


Stars In Your Eyes

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: The 714 Marvel Universe [22]
Category: Avengers (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: 714 Universe - Freeform, Gen, Next Generation, Trouble follows Fluff - it's the law, Volume 19, X-Kids - Freeform, co-authors, two evil minds are better than one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:39:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 63,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: The X-Men have been growing as a team and as an extended family - but that doesn't mean that everyone is content to let them live their lives.And it's been suspiciously quiet for a good long while.When the shi- stuff hits the fan, the Lensherr family is especially susceptible to questionable reactions - its genetic, after all - and they quickly find that even the smallest actions (or inaction) can shape their world more easily than their usual grand dramatic gestures.With their family and friends at the mercy of others - will they make the right choices? Or will the world plunge again into war and darkness with mutants at the center of the bullseye?





	1. MIssing, Wounded, And Dead

Jubilee was stuck on forced bed rest for the last part of her pregnancy, and she was fairly miserable about it. Not only was she carrying a speedy little half-Kree with a sped-up gestational period ... she was carrying _two_ of them. And while it certainly explained why her scent had been off so _fast_ and why she had been even sicker than with Sying... that just meant that now, a couple weeks from her due date, Hank was watching her like the proverbial hawk to make sure that things went as smoothly as it was possible for them to go, all things considered.

Which meant that she was miserable, curled on her side, and feeling rather bruised as a couple very strong babies were fighting with each other and her spine — and on her wedding anniversary, too.

It was only marginally more tolerable when she figured in that both K and Annie were helping to make her more comfortable, but they were quite a bit slower than the first time around, since from time to time, they would have to stop what they were doing, too. Occasionally, Annie had to sit down or lean on someone since the dizziness for her this time around was awful. K of course, was just irritating the crap out of _all_ the other girls with her disgustingly mild symptoms. Or at least with her ability to ignore all but the very worst symptoms which she only really acknowledged when she was _alone._

Which was the state of things when Kurt came down to visit — walking through the doors rather than teleporting. He and the bamfs were temporarily pulling back on all the brimstone and smoke because of all the sensitive noses around the place, which the ladies were all grateful for. He had his phone in his hand and a grin on his face, though, and he sat down beside Jubilee. "Kamala has been sending pictures of her little boy, and she says to tell you she won the race," he teased her gently.

"Oh, how nice for her," Jubilee grumbled as she hugged her pillow a little tighter, though the grump melted away when Kurt showed her the pictures of little Bashir and his perfect black curls. And on seeing the photos, she very unexpectedly teared up and started bawling.

This was, of course, very concerning to Sying, who escaped his dad's grasp, slipped under his arms, and rushed over to Jubilee with a look of pure worry. "What's wrong, Mommy?" he asked, clearly ready to help any way he could.

But Jubilee shook her head, unable to answer him as she instead pulled him closer and kissed his temple. In response, he reached up and hooked his arms around her neck and kissed her on the end of her nose.

Noh peeked over her shoulder at the pictures and broke into a grin. "He looks just like his mother," he said with a small laugh. "Perhaps he'll start a trend, and we'll have two little Jubilees."

"But then I won't get my little girls with white hair," Jubilee replied through a sniffle.

"Well," he said as he reached around to snuggle both her and Sying. "They can have my hair — and everything else shall be yours."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes," Jubilee said as she tried to settle back in. "I'm so freakin' ready for this to be over."

"Hank said just a couple more weeks," Annie said, leaning against the chair. "Lucky you," she added with a teasing smile.

"Weeks my ear," Jubilee mumbled.

"I know it feels like years when there are two," Annie said sympathetically.

Jubilee grumbled and let out a sigh. "You're too … positive. Stop it."

"Can't help it," Annie teased. "Just how God made me."

"Want me to throw her out?" K offered. "Won't take but a minute."

"I will toss my cookies all over you if you try," Annie warned, one finger leveled K's way.

"That's more realistic," Jubilee giggled.

"Just being honest," Annie pointed out.

"Well, that's easier to listen to than cheerleading," Jubilee said. "And K probably would go beat someone up for me if I asked. Which is just nice to know."

"That's 'cause Grammy K is the best," Sying said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, she is," Noh agreed, ruffling Sying's hair before he scooped him up. "Come on; let's go find Krissy and Kari, shall we? They should be up from their naps by now." He glanced at Kurt, who nodded with a little smile at that.

"Okay," Sying said before he waved at the women. "Bye for now."

They were all sure to wave back, and of course, as soon as Sying and Noh were gone, Annie burst out with, "He is going to be the sweetest big brother of all time. You know that, right?"

"Of course he is. Have you met his father?" Jubilee pointed out. "He has no choice."

"And with the grandparents to spoil them ... those two girls…" Annie shook her head. "You'll never have a need for babysitters."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside on the mansion lawn, a small group of kids were already playing with Logan by the time Kurt and Noh arrived with Sying and the elflings. No one was surprised to see that Logan had Charlie dangled upside down and was tickling her, and all three of the newly arrived little ones simply rushed over so they could play too, little choruses of "me next" and "no me" already sounding out over the lawn.

Anyone who didn't want to try to take Logan down, though, had a nice swing to swing on, as Leslie Ann was up a tree nearby and was more than happy to make little swings out of vines and branches — which was where Cody was, contentedly sipping from a sippy cup and watching the others play, despite Magda's best attempts to cajole him into joining the fun.

Eventually, Logan was "defeated," and the kids went from celebrating their victory to playing tag with Noh and the bamfs. Kurt was grinning ear to ear as he helped Logan to his feet.

"They all love you," Kurt said, clearly enjoying himself. "And your army is only getting bigger — Kamala's little boy arrived last night."

"Yeah, Kate already hit me with the pictures," Logan said as he brushed himself off. "Apparently, Kamala got shy to send 'em to everyone herself."

Sying zipped over to where the two of them were with a wide grin as he tugged on Logan's sleeve and was already half climbing up Logan's side before Logan helped him up the rest of the way. "Miss Kamala has a pretty baby boy," he told Logan with a wide grin. "He's gonna be best friends with _my_ baby sisters."

"You think so, kiddo?" Logan asked as he readjusted how the little boy was settled on his hip.

"Mmhmm." He nodded a few times over. "But he's gotta be nice, because they're _my_ baby sisters."

"And you will be a very good big brother," Kurt agreed, taping the very tip of the little boy's nose.

"I'm gonna take care of my _flickor_ ," Sying giggled. "I asked Elin _all_ about being bigger. And Chance and Charlie and Gerry and Krissy!"

"They're all very excited for you to be a big brother too," Kurt said with a warm smile.

Sying looked even more delighted at that before he wriggled to be let down then rushed over to go play with the others, laughter and squeals echoing over the lawn... right up until a shrill alarm split the air, prompting everyone with enhanced senses to cover their ears.

The adults all glanced at each other as the bamfs all rushed to try to teleport the kids out of danger — only to frown and look incredibly fretful when that didn't work. Leslie Ann's swingset fell out of the tree — and then she followed, landing on her feet with wide eyes. "What's going on?"

"Just move," Logan urged as he rushed toward the house — away from the kids. "Let the bamfs take you somewhere safe!"

But she fell into step with him — or as fast as she could, anyway — shaking her head. "They're taking care of the little kids," she said, gesturing to where Kurt and the bamf were trying to find the edge of the dampening field so they could teleport everyone to safety, the oldest in the group holding their younger siblings' hands. "C'mon, Logan. I'm on the team now — let me help."

He glanced over his shoulder and nodded. "Move it if you're comin'," he called back. "Gotta draw their attention away from the little ones."

"I could be more distracting if the powers were on," Leslie Ann said as she poured on a little speed.

"Never let it hold _me_ back," he replied.

"Yeah, but I bet walking trees would be _real_ distracting," she said with a crooked smirk.

"It'd be beautiful, little darlin'," he agreed. "But now ain't the time."

The two of them ran toward the house, passing Rachel and Bobby on the way with the rest of the kids who hadn't been outside playing, Bobby was carrying Amadi and Rachel had Jayce as they rushed to catch up with the others and beat whatever was incoming. The rest of the X-Men were pouring out of the house, too — though they were ready for a fight to defend the house.

Tyler caught up with the two of them first out of everyone that had been inside and looked to Logan. "K's got Jubilee — she and Annie are getting all the girls to the Danger Room," he said, a bit out of breath.

"She gonna stay there with 'em?" Logan asked, looking stressed, since he _knew_ that there was no way K was going to ignore an all out attack on the kids and students like that.

Tyler frowned. "Annie and Lorna said they'd keep her there."

"With no abilities, how's _that_ gonna happen?" Logan growled out.

With the slightest smirk, Tyler admitted, "Annie promised to puke on her if it would help."

Logan shook his head. "Yeah, that wouldn't stop her." The two of them headed toward where the invasion was moving into the house already — though the kids that were still attending classes were already rushed out into the safe rooms in the basement that Noh and Forge had designed.

Leslie Ann wasn't the only one of the students who had stayed behind to try and help with the fight, and as Leslie Ann flipped a soldier over her shoulder in a move she had learned from Logan, she glanced up to see that her best friend, Jana, was doing nearly the same thing nearby.

Jana was actually a much better hand-to-hand fighter than she was, too, since her powers didn't exactly do much in a fight, so Leslie Ann made her way closer to her friend, glad to have her around. Nearby, Logan and Tyler were fighting way out of her league, and she did _not_ want to get close to the soldiers that were ganging up on those guys.

"Have you seen Sylvia and Brye?" Jana called out to Leslie Ann, but Leslie Ann just shook her head.

"I'm sure they're somewhere."

"Typical. First invasion with the team together and we don't _actually_ have the team together."

Leslie Ann rolled her eyes at that. "What, you don't think we can take them?"

Jana snorted. "Just try and keep up."

From the hall that led to the lower levels, a growl echoed around them — and Logan immediately abandoned the fight he was in to rush toward the sound, clearly in a near panic. When he got to them, K had managed to clear out a pretty good swath of soldiers all on her own, but since their abilities were turned off, her recovery time to catch her breath or heal from the more minor bumps and scrapes was the same as anyone else's — and it was exactly what the soldiers had needed to get her down.

As was to be expected, Logan dove in headfirst in her defense, but it turned out that Weapon X had actually _counted_ on him doing exactly that, and they were waiting for him to make his move. Without his healing working properly, it was a pretty simple matter of a few heavy sedation darts — followed quickly by some adamantium-proofed restraints as soon as he was even halfway on the ground. K was in a similar situation, though not drugged — and seeing the two of them was just enough to get Elin to try to rush from her hiding place, screaming for both of them.

She barely made it halfway down the hall before one of the soldiers slung his rifle and scooped her up, chuckling that the little girl thought she could get away from him so easily. She was struggling hard and doing everything her little size would allow her to do to get loose, crying for both of her parents as the three of them were carted off.

Tyler's fight, meanwhile, had taken him much further from the group, and while he had managed to get through a large swath of them, he wound up far from Logan, K, and Elin. He was fairly winded and just trying to get his breath back when he saw several of the soldiers rushing in a different direction as the rest, so he bounded forward to investigate.

He went from curiosity to concern, though, when he saw that there was a large group of them trying to break into the medical wing — and when he overheard the instructions about _not_ drugging any of the pregnant women when they got hold of them, all he could think for a moment was that Tammy was one of that group before he let out a loud snarl that echoed the hallway, bounding forward with his claws out.

It didn't matter that he knew Tammy wasn't behind that door — since K had told him she had the girls under control down in the Danger Room. He knew this wasn't the only group trying to get to them, and by God, he'd tear them apart too.

The snarl was the only warning that the soldiers had. They had been so focused on breaking in that they didn't see him coming, and for as mad as Tyler was, that was no help to them at all. He tore through the group of them, his growl echoing the hall the whole time he was working.

In the middle of his rage, he had to stop, his hackles raised, when he heard Elin screaming for him — but only for a moment before the soldier carrying her covered her mouth with his hand. When he realized he couldn't hear Elin anymore, he broke into a roar and bounded toward where he'd heard her, somehow even more _livid_ than before as he tried to cut his way over, though the closer he got to where he'd heard Elin, the thicker the soldiers were.

Until, very suddenly, they scattered.

Tyler was panting, half leaned against the wall as he tried to get it back. No powers meant no healing, and for as much damage as he'd done, it wasn't like the soldiers had been kind trying to fight back. He knew he didn't have it in him to go after them, so he reached for the comm, still trying to get a breath. "I can't find Logan or K or Elin," he panted. He was still mad, itching to go after them, but he just _couldn't_. He was spent. "I heard them take Elin."

"I've got it," Bobby replied. "I think I see them … I'll figure something out."

"We need someone deeper in the house, too. They're looking for the girls," Tyler said, already gathering himself to make a run for the Danger Room. Powers or no, he had to make sure Tammy was alright.

* * *

Inside the Danger Room, the ladies of the X-Men who were still pregnant — minus K — had holed up with Erik, Billy, and Tommy. It was really just a lucky coincidence that Billy had come down to visit and update his brother and Erik on how the adoption journey was going — still no hits, but they were hopeful. Or an unlucky coincidence, depending. Either way, it meant that the ladies weren't by themselves.

Billy had of course dedicated himself entirely to making Jubilee feel better, since now she was miserable _and_ stuck in the Danger Room _and_ there was an invasion. "Always on _my_ anniversary," she was muttering under her breath as Billy tried to hold her hand and rub her back.

"Yeah, that sucks. I'm sorry," he muttered to her.

For the first little while after the alarm had sounded, the only sound in the room was Billy trying to make Jubilee feel better — and Tommy handed a bow to Kate "just in case" from the locker rooms outside the Danger Room.

But then there was a new sound — a sort of dull pounding at the door that had everyone inside on edge when they realized what it was. Someone was trying to get inside.

Tammy stretched out a hand and then frowned. "Powers still aren't back on," she muttered.

"If they were, we wouldn't have to worry about them getting in," Lorna agreed with a narrowed-eyes expression that didn't look like it quite belonged on her face.

The sound seemed to get louder and louder, and Tommy had settled into a fighting stance, with Kate holding a bow and ready to shoot whoever came through the door first, when Tyler's warning came over Tommy's radio — not only that the Howletts had been taken but that those in the room were targets as well.

"Oh, that is just not gonna happen," Kate said through her teeth as, to prove her point, she strung a fourth arrow, this one the more explosive kind, just waiting for the soldiers to either get through — or to get torn to shreds by someone on the other side.

There was a loud explosion, and the door finally started to sag, and they could see light starting to come in under the door as, with a loud scraping sound, the soldiers outside started to pull it back.

"I really need to have another one of those Stark guns put in here for stuff like this," Annie said with an expression that read she was ready to fight.

"Next time," Kate agreed through the corner of her mouth, her gaze on the door.

But when it peeled back further, the group of them all had to pause, and Tommy stepped forward slightly, his head tipped to the side. "Laura," he called out in relief. "Oh man, it's good to see you. We so need backup against these guys." He gestured to the girls and to Billy — who was hopeless with hand to hand combat — and Erik — who was powerful, but not nearly up to where he was in his prime and had really always relied too much on his powers anyway.

But Laura didn't acknowledge Tommy at all except to rush him — and in an instant, Tommy was silent, claws protruding from between his shoulder blades as the room rang with the _snikt_ sound of Laura's claws. She pulled her claws free of him, and the white-haired young man simply hit the ground heavily, the thud muffled by the _sound_ that Billy made on seeing Tommy fall.

For a long moment, everyone in the room simply stared, disbelieving, as Laura turned from Tommy and fixed her gaze on the rest of them without a word. A bit delayed, Kate let her arrows fly, but the explosives hit the soldiers who were trying to file in after Laura — the other three arrows hit Laura, though Kate's aim was off entirely and not a one of them was a solid shot. She was too shocked to aim right.

It was enough to set Laura back, though, and enough to draw the attention of anyone who had been headed down to the Danger Room to the fact that there was trouble — and an instant later, Tammy's eyes widened when she heard Tyler snarling outside. Though it was Cassie and Hisako that climbed through the ruined door to tackle Laura.

The only positive side of the dampener being on was that Laura wasn't immune to it any more than the others were. Even though Kate's shots weren't instantly fatal, they were enough to bleed her out — particularly when paired with how much blood she was losing after Hisako cracked her in the back of the head and pressed a spot on her arm that forced her to retract her claws.

With Laura down, the girls turned their attention to Tommy. Erik was the first to get there, kneeling next to the badly injured young man with a look of devastation ... until he paused. "He's still breathing," he whispered out.

That was all Cassie needed to hear as she burst back through the door looking for Tyler. The tall young man was leaning against the wall, clearly wiped and barely supporting himself as it was, but Cassie slipped under his arm. "Tommy's hurt," she said simply, her eyes shining and her voice shaking.

"I can't do anything to fix it until the dampener is off, but I can at least triage him," Tyler said as he gently knelt down next to Tommy and started trying to assess how bad off he was, quickly putting pressure on the wounds as best he could.

* * *

When the alarms had gone off, Scott had his hands full with James, since he'd offered to feed the little guy while K was helping with Jubilee and Logan had been fighting off almost everyone under the age of ten with the last name of Summers out on the lawn. It was the least he could do.

With the bamfs and Kurt unable to teleport, Scott scooped up the little guy, who was holding his ears, and rushed for the basement to get him somewhere safe. They were nearly there when the first few soldiers started to burst into the house, and Scott glanced at James for a second before he set the little guy down in an open classroom and motioned for him to stay put.

"Don't. Move," he said seriously.

James nodded back at him with a perfectly business-like look on his face.

Scott spared him one last look before he dove in to grapple with the soldiers who thought they could come into _his_ school like this. Even without powers, for as mad as Scott was, the few who had come down those halls quickly regretted it.

He let out a little muffled _oof_ when one of the soldiers got a foot in his stomach, but before the guy could follow it up with the shot he was clearly lining up, Scott grabbed the rifle as well and used it to pull the guy closer, slamming him into the wall before he wrenched the rifle from his grip and cold-cocked him with it.

That was the last of that group, but he knew that wasn't everyone who had been in the mansion, so he made a quick check of himself — he wasn't bleeding anywhere James could see — and ran back to the classroom to get his godson.

"You doing alright, bud?" he asked as soon as he had scooped James up.

James wrapped his arms around Scott's neck and buried his face, nodding.

"Come on. We're getting out of here, somewhere the bad guys can't find us," Scott promised, readjusting the way he was holding James so he could hold one hand on the back of his head and hug him tighter to his chest as he stepped out in the hallway and made a run for it, hitting the basement steps fast even as Tyler's report came over the comms.

Of course, that got Scott to hold James a little tighter until he hit one of the safe rooms and slipped inside with the little guy. "Alright, we're safe now," he promised, though he hadn't put James down at all. "How about we turn the radio on and see what's happening? When it's clear, we can go find everyone."

James nodded, and the two of them settled in, listening to the radio until Scott heard an unfamiliar voice over the air:

… _. Pull back. We got at least part of what we came for. We can come back for the rest. There's still time. All the Howletts are packed up. The rest of them won't be a problem later._

He instinctively tightened his hold on James at that and went to his comm. "Who's missing?" he asked with a frown, worried already at the answer.

"We have not seen Storm since she and Bobby went with Rachel to try to retrieve our feral friends," Noh said, sounding winded.

"I'd like a check in from everyone," Scott said.

"The bamfs and I have the girls. Krissy, Charlie, Kari ... and Sying," Kurt said. "Cody is here too…" He seemed to be counting. "Amadi… Jayce…" He stopped. "That's all."

"Who has Chance?" Scott asked with clear strain in his voice.

He could hear Kurt arguing with a few bamfs before: "He's not here, and neither is Magda." He paused. "They might have followed Rachel. Chance was sticking close to his big sisters."

"Alright, regroup," Scott said. "I'm headed to the ready room see what I can find on intel on where they're going. Forge, get the jet ready."

"I'm on it," Forge said.

"Has anyone seen Henry?" Annie cut in over the comms.

"Is there something wrong?" Scott asked, comm in hand as he decided to reroute to the Danger room with James hanging on tight.

"It's Tommy; he's fading fast," she replied, sounding distressed. "Tyler's doing what he can, but he's going to need something much … more."

"Be easier if I had my healing," Tyler said, sounding strained.

"Who's outside to find the dampener?" Scott asked as he began looking up and down the halls on his way to the Danger Room for any sign of Henry.

"I can look," Noh said. "I cannot promise my usual speed, but I can look."

"I'll send the bamfs to the edge of the lawn to search as well," Kurt offered.

When he rounded the corner, Scott was surprised to see the door to the Danger Room wrenched open, practically off its hinges. "James," he said low to the little boy, "cover your eyes, okay?"

James nodded and immediately put both hands over his eyes before he leaned forward into Scott's shoulder.

When they got there, Scott was immediately glad he'd had James cover his eyes, because it looked like Tommy was in a very bad spot. Tyler was doing what he could, but the simple matter was that he needed surgery. And he needed it about ten minutes ago.

It was like watching Billy fall apart over the adoption all over again to see him leaning into Lorna, though it was Erik's expression that was the most telling. Scott had seen that exact look just before his team had been _trashed_. Likely the only reason he wasn't going after someone was that he was kneeling next to Tyler to help put pressure on Tommy's chest.

"I've found the dampening field generator," Noh's voice rang out over the comms, and an instant later, Tyler changed his focus entirely, putting his efforts into his powers to heal what he could.

"We're still gonna need Hank," Tyler said, sounding strained.

"If you can get him stable enough to move, I can get him there," Tammy offered. "Float him through the doors."

"Let me," Lorna offered, one arm still around Billy's shaking shoulders as she extended a hand to move the door aside and out of their way.

"Do you want me to take him?" Annie asked Scott gently as Tommy's family — along with Tammy and Tyler — rushed down to the medical wing with Tommy. Jubilee was a wreck, crying into Kate's shoulder ... and Laura was still out cold on the Danger Room floor.

"We can go with the bamfs," Kate offered over Jubilee's shoulder. "You guys go get our friends, and we'll keep you abreast."

James leaned forward a little bit and grabbed Scott by both sides of his face before he gave him a little kiss on the cheek and started to wriggle out of his arms. Annie caught him before he could wriggle too far, which freed Scott up to run to the war room.

Both Lorna and Erik were with Wanda's twins, but one of them would be his best bet at finding Logan and K… though he'd check the radar and satellite first. With Tommy in the shape he was, he wasn't about to pull them back from that.

* * *

In the medical bay, Billy was still half clinging onto Lorna's arm as the two of them sat nearby watching Hank and Tyler get to work. Hank had pulled the surgical drape, and while Tyler was doing his best to help, his body was prioritizing his own healing over Tommy's, so really, Tommy's best bet was how quickly Hank could get him fixed up.

Erik was pacing beside the two of them as Hank got to work, the sound of the monitors Tommy was hooked up to and the clink of Hank's instruments, as well as the low whispers between Tyler and Hank as they worked, the only noise in the room.

That is… until Scott got there with Laura — who was still healing and looked furious. She wasn't fighting Scott as he led her into the medical bay, nor did she argue with him when he told her she'd be staying separate from the others until they were sure she was clear of the department's hold on her. Though that might have been because Scott had already promised to call Gabby — who was worried sick about her sister.

"She was on a date when they found me," Laura said, clearly distressed and on the verge of some kind of emotional outburst. "And then… I could _not_ stop them from forcing me to help them find my family."

"We'll get them back, Laura," Scott swore.

Erik stopped in his pacing after a moment, a frown suddenly creasing his face. It wasn't because Tommy's vital signs were erratic — that had been going on for a while — but because he had just realized... "Where is Elin?" he asked.

"She and her parents are missing," Scott admitted. He didn't look happy about it. "We can't find Magda or Chance, either — or Storm, Bobby, or Rachel."

"They were _taken_?" Erik asked, fury flashing in his eyes.

"It looks like it," Scott said. "I'm trying to track down anything on radar, satellite…"

But Lorna wasn't paying attention to what Scott was saying anymore, her gaze on Erik, her eyes wide — and she had positively forgotten to breathe for a moment. "Daddy," she said softly.

Erik turned her way to see the pure worry there in her eyes — and the look on Billy's face as he was still half watching the monitors. Lorna couldn't move for the fact that Billy was holding onto her so hard. When the instruments flatlined, both Tyler and Hank swore and redoubled their efforts and Billy simply fell apart on Lorna's shoulder, sobbing unrestrainedly as she tried her best to try and soothe him, even scooting their chairs further away so they couldn't hear the machines — metal-lined chairs were handy in a moment like that.

Billy was clutching Lorna to himself, not even trying to hold anything back — though when the lights started to flicker in time with the shuddering gasps, Hank had to tell Lorna and Erik to get him out of there.

Erik moved to relieve Lorna of Billy so she could actually get to her feet, and Billy didn't seem to really be aware of much as he leaned into Erik too, trying to get hold of himself enough not to wreck the medical wing for anyone else who had been hurt — and that was almost everyone in the house — holding his breath to do so.


	2. What Is This Place?

Billy had finally stopped crying into Lorna's shoulder, simply because he was too tired. She watched him carefully as he leaned back in his seat, his eyes closed. She knew he wasn't _actually_ going to sleep, but there wasn't much that she could say.

But she also wanted to find Alex and find out what was being done to find Magda, so very quietly, very gently, she promised she would be back and slipped out of the room to do just that.

And Billy was glad for it, honestly. He needed the silence to think. Process. Come up with _something_ , because the way things were… he wasn't going to just _let_ it happen.

He got slowly to his feet, the beginnings of an idea forming in his mind. He could undo it. There were rules about magic — always a price — and bringing Tommy back would require more than he could give. His sanity. Or another life. Or something worse. That much he had learned from his mom. But maybe he could tweak things. Just a little. Just _enough_.

_I wish Tommy had five more minutes before he flatlined._

That was all he'd need. As long as his brother was _alive_ , it wouldn't be a resurrection. A healing, he could do. Or a temporary stay of execution. Freeze him. _Something_. He just needed that small piece to fall into place. He didn't know what Hank and Tyler were doing now, but he also knew that Tyler couldn't heal anyone who wasn't breathing… maybe Billy could give him more to work with...

He hadn't yet said the words, but the moment he opened his mouth to come up with a spell, everything seemed to slow. The muffled sounds of the X-Men outside the door scrambling to go after their missing teammates stopped entirely. Even his heartbeat and breathing stopped.

The world went brilliant white, and then he saw his old friend, David. Wearing Patriot's uniform, and speaking in an unearthly, ghostly hiss, David extended his hand. " _Prepare_."

Billy frowned at that and looked over his shoulder. "I don't have time—" He caught himself, realizing that was stupid, since everything had _stopped_. "I already know what I'm going to do."

David tipped his head to the side. " _Change?_ "

Billy nodded. "Just five minutes."

David's head remained tipped to the side, and he studied Billy before he slowly shook his head. " _Consequences._ "

"Yeah, I know, but—"

David extended his hand once more. " _Prepare. Accept._ "

"I can't accept it," Billy argued.

" _Choose_ ," came the unearthly rattle, his hand still held out. But when Billy hesitated, so did David. He put his hand down, tipped his head to the other side, and then held out the opposite hand. " _Change. Observe._ "

"You won't stop me?"

David shook his head. " _Consequences_ ," he said simply before he seized Billy's hand with both of his — and an instant later, Billy found himself on an island, of all places.

He glanced around, totally taken off-guard, before he looked up at the sky. "This is not what 'not stopping me' looks like!" he shouted heavenward before he made his way down the beach, performing a quick spell to change his clothes so he looked much more like everyone else. This place was surprisingly ritzy.

"When I figure out where I am…" he muttered under his breath before he saw a blond further inland and jogged over to where she was. "Sorry, can I ask directions?" he asked, looking every bit the apologetic, lost tourist. "I have _no_ idea where I am. Is this, what, the Bahamas? My… my friend sort of … ditched me."

The guy laughed at him and walked past, sure to bump Billy's shoulder hard — and pick his pocket in the process.

Billy let out all his breath in frustration when he realized what had happened — but the guy was already gone. Now he was lost and out any way to get himself out. Or buy food. Or anything _else_ for that matter.

He muttered under his breath as he went through another few spells, finally locating himself somewhere in the Caribbean, but his magic felt... _off_. Like the spell knew where he was but still couldn't quite finish the job.

He tried a few more people, but none of them would help him out. Most of them thought he was drunk. And just when he was really starting to get _mad_ , David showed up again.

"What's the big idea, stranding me here?" he demanded when he saw his old friend.

" _Change_."

"Well, I haven't done anything except get a whole lot of rude looks, stares, shoves — and someone picked my pocket," Billy grumbled, arms crossed over his chest. "So if your plan was to make me the victim of credit card fraud, congratulations."

David shook his head slowly and held out his hand. " _Consequences_ ," he said, and the world went white again for an instant before Billy found himself exactly where he had been before David showed up. Only… there wasn't a mansion. At all.

It was clearly the mansion grounds. The forest was still the same. Everything else looked the same. It even looked like it was the same time of day. But instead of a mansion, there was a simple white monument. It was smooth marble, and it looked so out of place that Billy found himself drawn to it out of curiosity more than anything else before he realized that it wasn't just a white stone. There were words carved into it — names - and he only made it through maybe three before the understanding hit him and he couldn't read anymore as his vision blurred with tears.

" _David!_ " he shouted, spinning around in place, desperately hoping to see the blue-clad ghost somewhere. "What did you _do_?"

"Well, I can honestly say this is a first for me," said a vaguely familiar voice, and Billy spun to see that one of the junior X-Men — Jana, the one who could read abilities — was standing there in a uniform that looked distressingly familiar. "Most mutants don't announce themselves like that when they come here," she added, not moving a muscle as a group of soldiers appeared out of the woods, guns drawn.

Billy spun on his heel, both hands raised and ready for a fight as he started to float the slightest bit off the ground. "I am so not dressed for the occasion," he muttered as he shook out the sleeves of his suit — but that was as far as he got before a big guy just _appeared_ out of nowhere to snap a collar on Billy.

Instantly, he dropped back to the ground, and he didn't even get a good look at the guy who had surprised him before he was gone again — no blue smoke, though, so it wasn't Nightcrawler. Not that it was much consolation as the small contingent of soldiers closed in around him and very quickly and roughly got him restrained to drag him over to Jana.

"C'mon, Jana," he said, eyes wide and pleading, and she paused for just a moment.

"Telepath, then?" she asked thoughtfully before she placed a hand on his cheek and closed her eyes. Both eyebrows shot up as she scanned him, and when she opened her eyes again, she was already nodding at the soldiers on either side of Billy. "Reality-bender with the potential for cosmic-level changes to the fabric of the universe." She looked like she could hardly believe it as she took him in. "We'll take him."

"That … is going to be difficult to harness," the teleporter said with a wicked sort of smirk. "Not that they're not up for a challenge."

"He's powerless in a collar or dampener," Jana said with a wave. "It's their job to figure it out from there."

"Oh, I'm not arguing with you there," he said with a grin. "But I sure would like to see how they're gonna do it." He gave the guards a nod to haul the new acquisition off as he shook his head. "Man. How long do you think they're still going to come here like it's some kind of pilgrimage for stupid kids? The _X-Men_." He chuckled. "What a joke that turned out to be."

By that point, Billy was fairly alarmed and very nearly terrified — though he was still so thrown by everything that confusion topped the list of emotions more than anything else as the soldiers dragged him off toward a waiting truck. _This isn't right,_ he kept thinking, over and over. _What happened?_

The soldiers tossed Billy into the back of the truck, and a few moments later, the engine rumbled the floor beneath his feet, and it lurched forward. And that more than anything else was enough to overrule the confusion as _panic_ pushed to the forefront of his mind. He didn't know what was going on. But he sure knew that any truck that _Weapon X_ soldiers put him in was _absolutely not_ a truck he wanted to be in. At all.

He had no idea what to do about it, though, in a collar in the back of a reinforced truck. So really, all he _could_ do was panic…. right up until there was a familiar _bamf_ sound that had him halfway melting in relief when he saw the telltale blue smoke. But the Nightcrawler that appeared in the midst of all that smoke was very different from the one he knew — battle-scarred, with three long slashes across one side of his face, white scar tissue against blue fur.

A moment later, both of them were out of the truck in the forest outside the mansion grounds again, and Billy let out a huge breath of relief. "Kurt, what's going _on_?" he asked.

"What on earth possessed you to come back there?" Kurt snapped with a growl.

Billy blinked at him, surprised, and held up both hands. "I — this — look, I was just in Bermuda, I think? And then I was here. I don't _know what's happening_ ," he insisted.

Kurt shook his head and removed a small device from his pocket that shorted out something in the collar. "I can't get it off — but at least the tracker is dead. We can talk about this when we're safe."

None of that was helping Billy understand in the least what was happening, but he just nodded. "I'll follow you," he said — since, clearly, he had _no_ concept of where to go.

"No, you won't," Kurt said, looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. "There is only one way to get there — and even with my demons, it will take several 'ports."

Billy blinked at Kurt. "I… don't know where we're going," he admitted. "So maybe if you just… told me what to do? I'll do that."

"No," he replied before he reached out and tapped the collar. "You're not doing anything yet."

"So… what, then? Just wait here for Jana to get back with her soldiers?" Billy grumbled, his arms crossed.

Kurt narrowed his eyes at him, and a moment later, at least half a dozen little dark blue bamfs appeared around Kurt, who simply reached out and rested his hand on Billy's shoulder. "Don't flinch now."

The first teleport had them high enough in the air that Billy couldn't find a landmark below them for the half a second that he realized where they were. The second was into the middle of a cloud, and the third landed them in some kind of metal complex — which he quickly realized was floating miles above Earth.

"Welcome to Avalon — the second," Kurt said, though the introduction lacked all the usual flair.

Billy stared around at the floating city, his eyes wide as he tried his best to take it all in at once. "Woah."

"Where have you been hiding all this time?" Kurt asked, a frown on his face that looked as if it simply never eased up.

"Like I said, I don't know," Billy told him honestly. "None of this — I mean, the mansion, the X-Men ... it was all _here,_ and then it was _gone_."

"That doesn't make sense. Are you trying to say you've been time travelling?" Kurt asked. "I can't imagine what outcome is much worse than this one."

Billy bit his lip as he thought it over. "I don't know. Possibly. I was just going to go back a few minutes to save Tommy, and then my reality-shaping old friend showed up, took me to an island, and I was only gone ten minutes, I _swear_. I come back and there's a monument where a mansion should be, Jana's on Weapon X, there's a second Avalon…!"

Kurt looked him over carefully. "Your grandfather will be pleased to find you alive," he said flatly.

"And Tommy?" Billy asked. It was a selfish question, he knew, but he couldn't help but ask.

"Unless you brought him with you, he's been gone for some time," Kurt said, leading the way through the winding corridors.

"Oh." Billy's expression fell, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

"There aren't many mutants left that aren't under the _employ_ of Weapon X," Kurt told him.

"Yeah, I … I saw the monument, but I only saw a few names," Billy admitted. "Looked like … a lot, though," he added quietly. He wasn't sure what was worse: the memory of the monument, the fact that he'd only seen a few names, or the fact that he wasn't entirely sure that he had processed it enough to be _upset_ on seeing Cyclops, Storm, and Jubilee before he'd been unable to keep reading. "This ... this isn't right."

"Since when was that ever a deciding factor in how the world works?" Kurt asked bitterly.

Billy looked surprised Kurt's way. He'd never heard something like that from him before. "Since… aren't you the one who's always saying have a little faith?"

"Not anymore," he replied.

Billy stared at him openly, hanging back a few steps before he rushed to catch up. "What _happened_? Last I saw, I mean, sure, it sucked. That's why I was going to go back and fix it. But the mansion was still standing. Everyone was rallying to get people back from the raid. Erik was furious…"

"The school was shut down and the mansion raided after that damned bill passed — the one with the provisions to allow the government control of 'dangerous mutants'. We never got the chance to go after them."

Billy stopped outright and stared at Kurt. "That's ... that's not right. We ... that thing was defeated four years ago."

"No. It wasn't. It passed. By a wide margin."

"But…" Billy stared at him. "No… that's… that's not what happened."

Kurt turned slowly to glare at him. "It is. And I watched, trying to get the children _out,_ after they killed Scott for trying to _reason_ with them when they refused to believe that the ferals were gone. After that, almost everyone at the school was killed for getting in their way — even noncombatants like Annie."

Billy's head was starting to hurt. Or spin. Or both. He stopped and leaned against a wall to steady himself. "But… I remember it. Four years of it. The... the Hellfire Club. And the Purple Man! And ... and Kamala just had a baby just _yesterday_! Kate was showing me pictures."

" _NO_ ," Kurt nearly snarled, one finger pointed Billy's way with a look of barely restrained rage on his features. "Don't …"

Billy looked totally taken aback. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly, holding both hands up. "What — I'm sorry. That's just — that's what I was doing yesterday. Or today. Or… I'm sorry."

Kurt's tail was switching behind him, but he seemed to gather himself for a moment before continuing on his way. He led Billy down to a large pair of double doors that looked as if they were rarely used — and by the way they squeaked just slightly at the hinges, he was pretty sure that was the case. On the other side, sitting in a chair and looking down on Earth, sat his grandfather, thoughtful and clearly weighing everything out that had to have been troubling him those long, miserable four years of God only knows what.

"It seems there was a problem in one of the continuums," Kurt said. "Look who's come to look for something _brighter._ "

When Erik turned to face them, he looked positively stunned, but Billy, on the other hand, looked halfway sheepish as he waved with the tops of his fingers. "Hey. Uh. I think I'm lost."

"I believe that you are," Erik replied though he frowned at the collar on his neck, and in an instant it had simply disassembled itself.

"He was poking around the old grounds," Kurt explained before he moved to take a seat near Erik, looking weary and worn. "Almost as if he _wanted_ to be captured."

"Hey." Billy turned Kurt's way. "I already told you. I don't know how I got there. Or here. Or what's going on for that matter. I wasn't _trying_ to do anything. I just… am!"

"Yes, I'm sure a reality bender has no choice in where he goes," Kurt said dryly.

"I didn't choose the destination," Billy insisted. "My old friend David showed up, dropped me off, and disappeared. All I know is he said something about consequences, and the next thing I know, the whole mansion is gone, people are dead, and nothing makes _sense_."

"You should find your way back to your own time or timeline — and quickly," Erik advised.

"Gladly," Billy said with a nod. "This place… this is really horrible." He rubbed his forehead as he sank into a seat. "I just ... don't… actually… know how to go back. I don't know if it's alternate reality. Or dimension. Or timeline. Or … some kind of crazy spell."

"Then I wish your mother were still around to assist you," Erik said with a more tired look than Kurt had.

Billy looked between the two of them. "Maybe I can fix this. Or… help somehow," he offered. "At least until I know what's going on."

"How do you plan to do that?" Kurt asked. "You're not fit to fight."

"Hey. I'm an Avenger," Billy said, thrusting his chin out. "I can hold my own."

"There are no more Avengers," Kurt said low.

Billy fell silent at that and stared at him. "What… what even _happened_?" he asked. "This is all because of that stupid bill?"

"It was the start of it," Erik said. "Everything else fell in like puzzle pieces after that first step. The line was fuzzy on who or what might be dangerous — until all the 'heroes' were considered as such."

"I just… I guess I don't understand it. Where I come from, that bill was defeated. JJ even got his book deal out of it."

"What book deal?" Kurt asked.

"Well, he and Kate had a deal. She gave him all the information he needed to prove Weapon X was using Logan and K, and he got the rights to publish the story of how it all went down — and how it was discovered. It's actually a really good book," Billy explained.

"But they were never able to find a link, even before …" Kurt let it fall and shook his head. "There was no proof."

Billy bit his lip as he thought it over. He still didn't know where he was or what the game was, so he didn't know how much of the past he could change for them, anyway. "There were videos," he said. "I don't know if that makes any difference _now_ , but they had video records of what they did to Logan and K. That's what tipped the scales where I'm from. The bill was defeated on Valentine's Day."

"It wouldn't make a bit of difference now," Kurt said. "The ferals have been under government control since they got caught."

"All of them?" Billy asked, wide-eyed. "Elin and James too?"

Kurt frowned. "Who's James?"

"Who's…" Billy trailed off. "I guess… I guess you wouldn't know. In my time, he was born just a little after the bill was defeated — on Logan's birthday, actually. He's the cutest kid ever. Likes to jump off of things and make you catch him."

Kurt looked like he'd gotten water thrown in his face. "No … We don't … Elin is here."

"Oh good," Billy said in a rush. "I'm glad to hear that. So you were able to get all the kids out?"

"We got all the kids from the mansion out," Kurt said.

"And what about the Avengers' kids?" he asked. "I ... I don't even know which ones exist in this timeline. Or reality. Or whatever. Gerry, probably. And maybe Zoe? Have you met her yet?"

" _They_ have Gerry," Kurt replied. "I've never heard of Zoe. Who does she belong to?"

"Clint and Natasha," Billy said. "She's adorable."

"Clint has been dead for … well. Since before the bill."

Billy looked like you could have knocked him over with a feather. " _What_?"

"He and Kate never came back from a mission they were running," Kurt explained very gently, though he had a hard expression on his face. "Wade only barely made it out to tell us what had happened."

Billy stared at Kurt and then at Erik. "I… I'm sorry," he finally said Kurt's way, even though he knew it wouldn't do a thing to help. He'd had enough people tell him the same thing the last few months too. When Kurt's ever-present frown simply deepened, Billy cleared his throat and looked toward Erik. "Is there… someplace I could stay? Just until I figure out how to get back. Or ... where to go back _to_."

"Yes, of course there is," Kurt replied with only a whisper of the warmth that Billy was so used to hearing from him.

"Then, I guess... I'll follow you," Billy said with a small smile. "Again."

"This time, you won't have nearly as far to go," Kurt assured him as he got to his feet and started to lead the way.

For a while, Billy let Kurt lead him through the new Avalon in silence — he was still processing half of what he'd just learned anyway, so he appreciated the quiet to give him space to think. "So," he finally said as they turned a corner. "You just, what? Wait until someone stupid goes to the mansion? Monument? Thing? And bring them here?"

"I have a few bamfs monitoring several places that seem to draw in those that have convinced themselves that the X-Men are simply in hiding," Kurt replied. "When someone shows up in one of those places, they alert me — and I try to get there before Weapon X does."

"Well… they're not entirely wrong," Billy pointed out. "You and Erik are here."

"We're not X-Men anymore," Kurt clarified.

Billy frowned at that, his brows scrunched up. "Sure you are. You're the last X-Men."

"There are a few others that are alive — but there are _no_ X-Men. No Avengers. Excalibur and the New Mutants — none of them are around. No one like that."

"I just… can't believe it," Billy said, shaking his head. "Not... I mean, I can wrap my head around people being gone ... sort of. But being an Avenger… and X-Man… that _means_ something."

"It means you have a target on your back for extermination if you don't comply." Kurt paused in front of a pair of big double doors not too far from where Erik was set up. "But I really can't talk about this any longer. I have work to be done. If you have more questions, you'll have to ask Wade."

"Right. Yeah. Other idiot kids to save, got it," Billy said with a little nod, his hand on the door. "But ... thanks. Sorry I'm so hopelessly lost. I appreciate the guide."

"You'll either find your way or learn how it is now very quickly," Kurt replied as a bamf showed up, giving him a very insistent look.

Billy recognized the look of urgency and waved him off, stepping through the doors while Kurt teleported off to go save someone else.


	3. Where It All Went Wrong

When Billy entered the room Kurt had indicated, he was surprised to see not just Wade but all of the kids from the mansion. Well, the older group, anyway. The ones that had been around before the bill four years ago. They looked exactly as he remembered them — Chance, Elin, Krissy, Charlie, Sying…. Wade's little girl, along with Dani — all of them were there, safe, playing with Wade.

On seeing there was a new person, though, several of the kids stopped what they were doing and drifted away from the action. When he tried to take stock of them again, it was clear that Elin and the twins were just ... seemingly gone.

Billy gaped at the halfway hiding kids for a long moment in disbelief. They all looked like he remembered them, but this was a far cry from the mobbing he was used to. "I ... uh. It's okay. I'm… Erik's grandson," he offered.

"They're not coming out," Wade called out from the far side of the room, where he was sitting back easily. It was clear he'd been in the middle of playing with them before they'd scattered. "At least... not right away. They need to watch you first."

"Sorry," Billy muttered sheepishly. "I… wasn't trying to scare anyone."

"Side effect of losing their families," Wade said with a little shrug. "A certain little boy will be the first out, though. I'm sure of it. He's the advance scout."

"Last time I saw these guys, they were giving out kisses and hugs like candy," Billy said with a sigh.

Wade laughed at that, though his mirth fizzled quickly. "Yeah, thats … that's not how things operate around here."

"So I've been told." He sat down by Wade with his head tipped to the side. "So, how'd _you_ become the nanny, Deadpool?" he couldn't help but ask.

Wade let out a long breath as if he'd been holding it for weeks. "I claimed them as mine."

"Well… I guess that'd do it," Billy said, though he still had his head tipped to the side.

"They needed someone that could tell them about their parents. You know, someone that knew 'em," Wade said with a wave. "And I wanted to keep them together. Because if the Elf gets his way, the twins will have a new family soon enough."

"What? And separate Chance and Elin?" Billy asked.

"No … that's not the plan," Wade said. "He's trying to get the Howletts back. But it has turned out to be _monumentally_ harder than expected."

"Ah, yeah." Billy motioned with one hand to his face, where the white scars would have been on Kurt's face. "I ... I noticed that. Didn't want to ask. It seemed kind of… self-explanatory anyway." He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands for a moment, running both hands through his hair. "This is just so, so wrong."

"It really is," Wade agreed.

"No, I mean it's _wrong_ ," Billy said. He picked his head up, figuring if anything else, Deadpool might understand just how… weird the world felt. He felt like he was going crazy himself. "All of it. Just this morning, I was visiting with Tommy and Erik and — and looking at the pictures of Kamala's baby boy with Kate. And holding Jubilee's hair. She was carrying twins. And — and all of that's _gone_ now. It can't be time travel, because this is still the same day it was when I left. But something went _wrong_. Somehow." His voice grew softer and softer as he said it, the emotion clear in his shaking tone.

Wade leaned forward. "Well … whatever you came from _had_ to be better than this."

Billy nodded. "It was. I mean, don't get me wrong. It had issues. To me, Tommy was stabbed this morning, and I don't know if he lived or died," he added in a subdued tone. "But… not _everyone_. The mansion's still up. Heck. There's twice as many kids there as you've got here, and me and Teddy… we were working on getting some of our own. And… _poof_. All gone."

"Any ladies in the mix? Did the fuzzy Elf ever find a new wife?"

"No, Kate's still around," Billy said with a frown. "They were on elfling number three. She's been wearing a trenchcoat and running her PI business for months. K keeps making horrible Catholic jokes, too.

"Three? Three elfeses?"

Billy started to grin at the gobsmacked look Wade was giving him. "Even Gambit's got a girl. They went down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and then decided to go on a whirlwind world tour that Scott is actively pretending he doesn't know means a crime spree."

"How … how did the greasy swamp rat find love?"

"Oh, just about how you'd expect. Someone was stealing from corrupt, mean, rich people, so he fell in love with the thief doing it. As you do." He leaned forward a little further. "And Kamala and Miles are married, just had a baby. _You've_ got a girlfriend."

"Is it serious?" Wade asked, obviously wide-eyed.

"I think so," Billy said. "She's the settle-down white-picket-fence type, and she loves Eleanor, so… there's a betting pool on who asks who first."

"They started a betting pool on _me?_ " he said, one hand over his heart.

"Logan bet on you," Billy said, unable to stop the grin.

"He did? My brother bet on _me_?" Wade was completely floored. "Who was the lucky lady? Was it Jessica Drew? Because between you and me, she has _always_ been a looker."

Billy snorted and shook his head. "No, it's a girl named Lisbet. She's K's big sister. They're _nothing_ alike, by the way."

"Wait. Wait. Wait. _What?_ Are you kidding me? There's two of them? How … how did that get past anyone?" Wade was making all kinds of little noises of disbelief. "Is Cerebro broken — because it seems like that's the kind of thing Cerebro would figure out. Isn't it? It is. I'm sure it is."

"I really wouldn't know," Billy said.

About that time, Chance stuck his nose around the corner, carefully watching Billy with a healthy amount of suspicion, and Wade very slowly raised one finger to his lips. "We need to fix this right away. I mean. All the apocalyptic garbage aside, if I have a serious girlfriend in any reality that's not trying to kill me —" He paused and leaned toward Billy slightly. "She's not trying to kill me is she?"

Billy quickly shook his head. "No, no. She's smitten with you."

Wade nodded slowly, almost thoughtfully. "Alright then. That just needs to happen."

"I need to figure out what the difference was. Or ... or what reality I'm in. Or something. I can do… well. It's sort of a scanning spell. Kind of a cool light show, actually. The fun kind, not the Strange kind. Mine are more colorful and sort of… movie clipshow-like to anyone who can't see it from the inside. At least, that's how Teddy describes it."

"No scareing," Chance said with his hands on his hips, though when Billy looked his way, the little boy took half a step back for a moment before he stood his ground with his chin jutted out.

Billy smiled Chance's way. "Do you want to see it first and tell me if it'll scare the others? I won't do it if you tell me not to," he promised.

Chance glanced first to where the girls were each hidden and then to Wade before he seemed to gain some more courage. He drew in a breath and nodded.

Billy held out one hand. " _Onepossibleworld,_ " he chanted. The full spell would be 'all' possible worlds, but a smaller scale would be better to start. And just like that, a sort of tear broke the air in front of Billy, just over his hand, until it peeled away to show a window into another reality. This one showed Chance — maybe because the little boy was here and that's where Billy's focus was — but older and wielding two guns as he ran through target practice in the Danger Room.

Chance just stared at it wide-eyed. " _Who was that?_ " he whispered.

"That's you," Billy said. "That's an older you in a different world somewhere. Looks like you're pretty cool, huh?"

"How come I'm so _big_?"

"Just because you're so much older," Billy said.

"And a _lot_ like your daddy," Wade said. "He was taller than _me._ "

"Then ... am I gonna be that big someday?" Chance asked.

"Probably, little boss-man," Wade said with a nod. "But you have to keep being a hero like you've been working on. That'll help you be big and strong."

"There's lots of other worlds and other Chances," Billy explained. "That's the light show I was talking about. I want to look at a lot of them at once and see what this one is. I'm from a different one, and I want to go home to that world."

Chance nodded. "So … a whole bunch of those then?" he asked. "Because … I think my sister would want to watch that too."

Billy grinned. "Sure thing. I can put a couple of them aside for you and your sister. When I look at them, it's all really fast, though." He muttered another spell — _twopossibleworlds_ — to try and find something for Charlie, this time stumbling upon a sweet little girl about three years old playing with Gerry — only Gerry was her age instead of older in this universe, apparently.

Charlie came out of hiding, very slowly, and she watched both Billy and Chance as she came a little closer. But after she watched the two children playing next to Chance, she shook her head and fixed Billy with a very serious expression. "Elin won't like this."

"Do you want me to just look at everything fast?" Billy offered. "You guys don't need to see the other worlds if you don't want to. It'll just look like colors to you."

"I'll take care of Elin," Wade promised, and he got up and crossed the room to where the little girl was hiding, only to pick her up and let her hide her face in his chest.

Billy glanced around at the kids before he nodded and held out both hands this time. " _Allpossibleworlds_ ," he chanted — and in an instant, the worlds opened up to him. It was like… channel-surfing, but all at once, looking through the different possibilities and trying to find which one was his. He'd done it before, looking for a world where Teddy's mother was alive — though at least this time he knew better than to bring anything _back_ from the extradimensional space he was using to look through reality.

He hadn't expected it to take very long, but the more he searched, the more he realized… he just couldn't _find_ where he was from. The closest thing he _could_ find, in all honesty, was where he was now. But that just wasn't possible. Four years of _wrong_ just… was _not_ his reality.

He tried a sifting spell, weeding out the realities he _knew_ weren't his. Process of elimination. He tried a locator spell, searching for his own magical signature — not the Demiurge ripples that echoed _everywhere_ but his personal, lower-level stuff. But that also brought him back to where he was. He even tried to track down the footprints he hoped David had left — all reality-benders left some. But he could only find traces of it _where he was_.

Finally, frustrated, he shut down the spell — surprised to find that he had apparently been at it for hours, if the fact that the kids were all curled up and asleep was any indication. Elin was curled up on Wade's chest, and Eleanor had Sying and Krissy on either side of her on the other couch.

It was sweet. Really. But it wasn't _right_.

Billy sat back with his head against the wall and gently thumped his head against it for a while, simply out of frustration. There was _no_ reason he shouldn't have been able to find a way home. He'd done everything right.

He wasn't time travelling. This wasn't a Gateway problem. Maybe… if he stayed gone long enough Cable might come for him? It was a longshot, but that was how Logan came back, right?

"Gah," he muttered under his breath as he got to his feet and started to pace, his hands tangled in his hair the more frustrated he got.

He found the door to the bathroom and slipped inside, just to get a little privacy, before he looked up at the ceiling. "What did you _do_ , David?" he asked the ceiling.

The ceiling, of course, had absolutely no answers for him, and after another ten minutes or so of grumbling at David — wherever he was — Billy finally had to give up. He magicked himself up a little cot, and he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, simply exhausted from everything that had happened.

* * *

When Billy woke up a while later, he was surprised by the tiny, fuzzy face very close to his. Of course, the second Krissy realized that he was awake, she retreated — but with a little giggle; he could still see her ears poking out from her hiding place behind one of the tables.

Billy sat up a little straighter, and the ears disappeared behind the table again, though the giggles didn't stop, and he couldn't help but smile as he got out of the little cot and down on all fours so he could see under the table. She had her head down on the ground and broke into giggles all over again when she saw that she'd been found.

"Hey, Krissy," he said with a little grin, and she burst into laughter and zipped away, running back to where the others were. A little flirt she might have been, but she wasn't about to talk to the new guy by _herself_.

He watched her run off to the other kids and then got to his feet to make his way over to Wade, stretching out his back. He hadn't exactly slept well — not because of the cot, since, well, magic cot — but just… because of everything else.

"Breakfast?" he asked Wade. "Or did I miss that already?"

"Nope, it's time," he replied, though Elin was once again half hiding as Wade carried her. " _She's a little shy_."

Billy smiled at her. "That's alright. My favorite person in the whole world — Teddy? He was pretty shy too when I met him. I don't mind shy."

Elin peeked at him for an instant before she gripped onto Wade tighter.

Billy shrugged Wade's way and sat down to grab a bagel with the other kids. They were all a little shy, though not nearly as much as Elin was. Still, conversation was light with very few of them _talking_ around Billy, so he pulled out his phone and started to fiddle with it. No service — wrong time or dimension or _something_ — but he had pictures and stuff he could look through.

"You won't get much signal in this floating bucket," Wade told him as he tried to tempt Elin with some scrambled eggs. "Something about the electromagnetic field screws with fine electronics."

"Yeah, I don't even know who I'd text anyway," Billy said. "Just… something to do." He pulled up some of the pictures from his phone gallery and was honestly surprised — and relieved — to see that, apparently, his phone had kept everything from where he was from. There was him and Teddy at the nice restaurant they'd gone to for Valentine's… and the beach party he'd gone to with all the old Young Avengers, Kate and Noh and their kids included….

"Anything worth sharing in there?" Wade asked.

"Just the only evidence I have that I'm not crazy," Billy admitted.

"Well, show me. I believe you, but it's nice to see real proof now and again," Wade said with a shrug.

Billy nodded and went back to the beginning of his pictures, glad he hadn't cleaned out his phone in a while, since that meant there were about two years' worth in there. "I… can tell you which kid is which if you want," he said.

"Yeah, because there are some here … I mean I can guess the one with the tail …"

"Kari," Billy supplied for him with a little smile. "She's the worst flirt out of all of them." He pointed at James in another picture. "James encourages her. And…" He pointed out the little redhead in the back of the picture. "Zoe leads them into trouble. She's a Barton, by the way."

Wade stared at Zoe in particular for a good long while. "Yeah, I can see her daddy in there."

"She looks like her mom in most of my pictures, but I _think_ I have one with her busted lip and bandage on her nose."

"Yeah, but there's enough of him in the eyes …"

Billy watched Wade for a moment. "I really wish they were here."

"You and me both. I never could forgive myself for how that stupid mission went down," Wade said as he handed the phone back. "Leave it to me to lose _both_ Hawks at once."

"Yeah, that's the part I don't understand," Billy said. "Where I'm from, the three of you... Sure, you got _captured_ , but no one _died_."

"The woman we were there to get intel from didn't show," Wade said. "She was supposed to. It was in her schedule. And instead of this old, super evil Weapon X doctor, we got the freakin' platoon of suped up guards. Didn't have time to search the room — and they didn't warn us before they started firing."

Billy turned his phone over in his hands a couple times. He just… didn't know what to say.

Wade let out a breath and shook his head. "I guess that's what we get for going to Madripoor on business instead of pleasure."

"That's…" Billy frowned. "That's the confusing part. I've heard Kate tell the Madripoor story a hundred times. They grabbed you three, and then Kurt came in all ... well, Kate says all 'dashing demon hero' ... and the next thing you know, you're walking out with globs of data and two hawks with broken wings."

"Demon _pirate_ hero," Wade corrected. "And I crawled out on my elbows. Barely. With nothing. Kurt wasn't there."

Billy shook his head. "Well, I can't figure out what the problem is with this timeline. Or reality. Because everything I did last night… it says I'm in the right place. Right time, right reality." He tapped his phone. "But I have proof. I even have the…." He paused, a disbelieving smile spreading over his face. "I… even have the book Kate and JJ wrote about how they exposed Weapon X. It's on my digital downloads."

"When was that supposed to happen?" Wade asked, and Billy realized that Elin was now watching him without hiding her face. "Did we actually … did we nail them?"

Billy paused, thinking of the raid that, to him, had only happened yesterday. "Well. They're not… defunct. But they were publicly humiliated. Disavowed. Back to operating in the shadows." He sighed. "Where I'm from, they just hit the mansion. But, it's nothing like _this_."

"They've taken over SHIELD's place here," Wade told him.

"Yeah, there's nothing like that back home. They come out of their hidey holes and hit us every once in a while, but… this is just…" He shook his head.

"It sucks."

"Yes, that." Billy let out all his breath as he thought it over. "And… I think… I think it might be my fault. I just don't know what I did."

Wade frowned and turned his way. "How could it be your fault?"

Billy ran a hand over his face. "Where I'm from, yesterday morning, Weapon X hit the mansion. They grabbed a lot of X-Men, but ... they killed Tommy. Laura stabbed him to death right in front of me and Erik. And I… I wanted to try to fix it." He shook his head. "I was just going to give him five more minutes. Just… long enough to make a difference. Heal him. And then the next thing I know, my own personal guide to extradimensional meddling drops me off on some island in the middle of nowhere for half an hour and brings me back here to this… crazy." He let out a long breath. "I must have changed something. Something on that beach, maybe. Or… been gone when I shouldn't have been. But that thirty minutes… I think it did _something_ to reality."

"What island were you on?" Wade asked with his head tipped to the side.

"I really don't know. Somewhere in the Caribbean. Everyone was dressed nicely."

"Did it smell like charcoal and jerk chicken or unwashed dead bodies? Think hard now; I know there's not a lot of difference sometimes."

"Ah…" Billy stared at him. "I… don't really know what unwashed dead bodies smell like. But I'm assuming it's a bad smell."

Wade laughed and clapped one hand on Billy's shoulder. "Well, Billy-boy, it smells exactly as awful as it sounds. Try to stretch your imagination nostrils if you're not sure."

"It didn't smell horrible. It was kinda ritzy. Like… rich people were vacationing there," Billy tried to explain. "Though one guy stole my wallet when I tried to ask directions, so it wasn't _that_ nice."

"The guy that pickpocketed you — rich looking or dirt-strings for shoes poor?"

"Blonde guy in a suit," Billy said.

"Haiti then," Wade said. "Probably. There was a mission we did down there. We started on the poor side of the island — but the mission was on the hoity toity side. We didn't find anything."

Billy tipped his head to the side and then held up a finger to tell him to wait as he pulled up his digital copy of Kate's book and searched 'Haiti.' "Okay, no, that — that's the mission where you started finding stuff," he said, showing Wade the chapter. "Uh, you got shot with carbonadium? But it set you on the right track for video files."

"Yeah, that's a big _no_ little buddy," Wade said, shaking his head.

"So it _was_ me," Billy said quietly. "It can't be a coincidence if I was on that island…"

"Are you saying you did something to blow the mission?" Wade asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," Billy said. "I… I asked people for directions, got pickpocketed, and one guy kicked me out of a restaurant? But that's it. I'm not sure how that would have changed anything, but… it had to. Right? That's the only thing that's different between what I know and what you know."

"Then it … kinda _has_ to be it. But how would that change things?"

"I don't know," Billy said, rubbing his forehead as he thought it over. "As best I can tell, all I did was talk to some civilians and get pickpocketed. So if $50 and an Avengers ID makes a difference…"

"The ID would do it," Wade said with a nod. "No one on that island was on the up and up. At least no one in a suit."

Billy let out all his breath and put his face in his hands. "One wallet — and the world goes to _hell_."

"Maybe it was what the creep spent the fifty bucks on …" Wade said as consolingly as he could. "Butterfly effect, you know …"

"No, you're right; it was probably the ID," Billy said, still with his face in his hands. "I scared off your biggest lead."

For as miserable as Billy looked over the whole thing, Elin had to do _something,_ and he wasn't looking her way at all when she reached over and rested one tiny hand on his arm.

He picked his head up, eyes shining, and let out a half-choked laugh. "Hey there, Emotional Assassin," he said.

Elin looked up at Wade with a little frown, then scooted a little closer to Billy. When she had gotten halfway to him, she leaned forward to almost hug him. Almost. "No one can hurt you up here," she said very quietly.

"Thanks," he said in a hoarse whisper. "That's… that's really good to hear."

She waited until he sat up a little straighter and then held her arms out so he _could_ hold her for a few minutes — and though he couldn't see it, Wade was smiling widely under his mask.

Billy snuggled into the little girl for a long moment. "You… you're just like _my_ Elin," he said in a whisper. "She gives the best hugs in the world too."

She snuggled in a little deeper for that, and Wade started to shake his head. "She doesn't do that for anyone, you know. Kurt hasn't even gotten a cuddle like that in … months."

"Well, when was the last time he started crying over breakfast?" Billy asked with a little self-deprecating laugh.

"I … was not aware it was part of my duties to keep track of such things," Wade said in a scholarly tone.

Billy couldn't help but chuckle at that as he snuggled Elin a little harder and then let out a breath. "You know," he said slowly, "I think… I can fix this. Put reality back where it's supposed to be. I know where I need to go, right? Where and when… I just need to stop myself from getting pickpocketed."

"Sounds simple enough," Wade replied. "Too simple maybe." He shook his head hard. "I don't know, Mr. Mystic … it wasn't even that easy to fix the rip when America let a whole dimension of teeny tiny flower people into Milan. It was fashion week. So they thought it was part of the whole … ambiance thing. Right up until they started biting tourists …."

Billy chuckled disbelievingly. "That never happened in my reality. I'm kinda sorry I missed it."

"Well, if you were going to Milan and not Haiti, I'm sure some of them are still hanging around … biting people."

"When I fix this, I'm going to make America show me that dimension. It's just… the mental image _alone_ …" Billy chuckled and shook his head before he very gently released Elin and gave her a little kiss on the temple. "I'm gonna go find a pickpocket. But thank you _so_ much for the hug. That really, really helped."

"Don't get in trouble," she said, wide-eyed, before Chance came over to try and pull her to play.

"Don't worry," Billy said with a small smile. "Where I'm going, the trouble is _much_ easier to deal with. It's like those worlds I showed Chance last night, right, buddy? Happy worlds. That's where I'm trying to go."

Chance tipped his head at Billy with a little frown. "Like ... where I'm big?"

Billy nodded. "Yeah, like that." He handed Elin off and got to his feet, figuring he should probably go elsewhere to do his teleportation spell so he didn't scare the already-skittish kids.

As Billy left the group, Erik got up to meet him at the door before he could quite slip away. Billy hadn't even really noticed him until then — he had been so quiet. But then, he'd been watching the whole thing, so he likely meant to be quiet…

"You're very good with her, you know," Erik said as he took pace with Billy. "She doesn't like everyone."

"She's always been a good kid, even where I'm from. She likes to take care of people, that's all," Billy said with a shrug.

"Yet she needs someone to take care of her," Erik replied. "I think she'd stay with you if you asked her."

Billy looked taken aback. "I…" He trailed off, entirely unsure of what to say. Just days ago, he'd been saying he wanted a little girl, and here was Elin without her parents anywhere to be found… He just didn't know how to explain that he didn't want to get his wish _that_ way.

"I'm not nearly as optimistic as Mr. Wagner," Erik said softly. "I don't believe that her parents are reachable, frankly, and as enthusiastic as Mr. Wilson is ... "

"Well, if I can fix this, you won't need to worry about it anyway. She'll have her parents and her little brother."

"And if you can't? Would you care for her?"

"Then…" Billy sighed. "No, I _can_ fix it. I'm more powerful than my mom; I just… don't use it. I don't like using it. But I _can_." He gestured around at Avalon. "Wouldn't it be better if we didn't _need_ this place? You can't tell me you want to just… let this be the way things are forever."

"Yes, I'd much prefer an alternative," he admitted. "But I could also end this war with Weapon X if Kurt would simply allow me to do so."

"X-Men don't kill if they can help it," Billy said quietly.

"Yes, well. Then explain to me why Charles recruited Wolverine to begin with," Erik pointed out. "It wasn't for his diplomacy."

"Yeah, but... " Billy sighed and shook his head. "Some people … they deserve it. Where I'm from, that's people like… like Mr. Sinister. Or Kurt's stupid dad. But not X-Men. Not Avengers. Not people who are being used. Even Logan could've killed my friend Noh for trying to take K. What's the difference here?"

"The difference is that there _are_ no X-Men anymore and Wolverine and his wife are working for Weapon X. Openly and without any controls we can find," Erik replied. "Of course, Kurt won't hear it, even if it is the truth."

"Because it's just not right," Billy argued. "I mean, when I first got here, the girl trying to take me in was a junior X-Man where I come from. They've got people working for them that I _know_ would never do stuff like that. Ever."

"Then I wish you luck finding the proof if you can't find a way to fix it," Erik replied. "My door is always open to you regardless."

Billy nodded. "If this doesn't work, I'll be back, I'm sure. But I'm pretty sure it'll work." He held out both hands and closed his eyes, then paused and peeked one open before he threw his arms around Erik. "Don't think I'll see this version of you again, so I just… thanks," he muttered into Erik's chest.

Erik looked surprised at the gesture before he returned the hug — hesitantly and then in a rush of warmth so that Billy was standing there for a lot longer than he meant to be. When he did take a step back, he couldn't even look at Erik as he closed his eyes, muttered his teleportation spell, and reappeared in Haiti a moment later.

It was the same beach as before, definitely. Practically the same spot, too. And it looked to be the right time of day… Billy glanced around but didn't see himself. Though… maybe that wasn't how this worked. Maybe he was just back — and all he had to do was _not_ get pickpocketed.

He checked his back pocket — no wallet. So the other Billy had to be around somewhere, right?

He went up and down the beach at least three times but still didn't find himself. Or the pickpocket guy. Or anything that would give him a hint. "Come on, David. I _get_ it. I do. I get it. Don't screw with the past. Joke's over," he muttered as he leaned against a nearby tree, frustrated at not finding anything. Again. He glanced over both shoulders and took a deep breath, holding his hands out in front of him to do a quick scanning spell.

He was only partway through the spell, though, when he felt a strange tickling sensation — and he went to slap at what he thought was a mosquito crawling up the back of his neck an instant before the whole spell collapsed out from underneath him as, once more, he felt the cold metal of a collar snap around his neck.

He hadn't even seen anyone _coming_. He turned to try and spot his attacker, but what he saw instead was a large gloved hand that shoved him face-first into the sand.

The fingers of the huge hand wrapped around him, and then Billy felt his body lift up off the ground as his attacker picked him up to turn him to face her — and he recognized Cassie as she tipped her head to the side. "We thought you were dead," Cassie said with her lips pursed in a frown, though she still hadn't put him down. If anything, she was pressing his arms against his sides tighter.

"Hey, Cas—"

"Shut up," she said sharply, and he was so shocked by it that his jaw snapped shut. She frowned at him for a moment before she turned to a comm at her shoulder. "Mutant for pickup," she reported before she simply started to squeeze until Billy felt the breath leave him and he blacked out.


	4. Demiurge

Kurt was on his way to speak with Erik when the first sign of trouble came: just for a moment, Avalon simply disappeared entirely. It wasn't long enough for anyone to fall — it only lasted for the time it took to blink. But the split second of space was unmistakable, and when it returned, there was a strange charge to the air as well.

"We need to evacuate," Kurt said when he got to Erik. "It's just a matter of time with that boy gone missing all of what … ten minutes?"

Erik was already on his feet — though not for long when he was clearly getting agitated and began to levitate as well. "Yes, evacuate. Take everyone to solid ground — but then we are going after William." His tone left no room for argument.

Kurt nodded in agreement. "I believe that there is still sanctuary in the Savage Land." Before waiting for Erik to agree, Kurt turned and teleported to where the children were — an army of dark blue bamfs appearing all around the room as he did so.

"It's time to leave, little ones," he told them in as kind a tone as he could manage.

Krissy rushed right over to where he was with wide eyes, her tail swaying anxiously behind her. "Where? Nobody can hurt us up here. You _said_."

"I know, sweetheart, but now … they have something new," Kurt told her as he snuggled her. "We need to go."

The kids all looked incredibly anxious, but the bamfs grabbed little hands, and as soon as everyone had a buddy, they disappeared in poofs of blue smoke, reappearing deeper in the Savage Land a moment later before the bamfs went back to get the rest of Avalon's residents.

As soon as her feet hit the jungle floor, Elin looked up and down the trail and started to walk. She'd been there once or twice before, and she _thought_ she knew the way to go. She didn't get very far, though, before Chance caught up to her and grabbed her hand. "No getting lost," he told her seriously. "We don't know where everybody is gonna be."

"We gotta hide," she told him just as seriously, pulling to get her arm back.

"Together, though," he insisted, holding her hand with both of his and looking upset. "No getting lost."

"What are you two doing so far from the others?" Erik asked. He had only just arrived and spotted the two of them almost hidden down a game trail, and in an instant, he was crouched beside them. "Stay with Wade, little ones. You don't want to become lost in the shuffle."

Elin gave him a look that was very much like one Logan used to give Erik when he thought he was full of it before Erik made a point to gently direct her back over to Wade — who looked relieved to see her.

Wade rushed over to wrap her up in a hug, scooping Chance up as well with his other hand. "We gotta put a bell on you two," he teased Elin gently.

"We were hiding," Chance explained.

Wade tipped his head at the little boy and then nodded seriously. "That's what _we're_ doing too. Want to help us get used to our new hiding spot? I bet you can find all the best nooks and crannies."

Chance frowned for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. I can help," he said.

Wade and his little troupe of kids made their way deeper into a pattern of caves, though when they found a door that Wade opened with a code and a flourish, Sying let out a little delighted gasp and ran over to where Tony was sitting at a workbench to wrap his arms around Tony's leg where he was sitting.

Tony wasn't the only one, either. Bruce Banner was there too, completely wrapped up in some notes before the door opened and he looked up to see the little troupe of kids.

"Hey," Dani called out to Bruce with a little grin.

"Oh, kids," Bruce said as he started to take a head count. "Lots … lots of kids. Where did you guys come from?"

"That's a _secret_ ," Sying said, speaking more to Tony than to Bruce as he grinned up at his favorite former Avenger.

Bruce blinked at him for a moment before he turned his attention to Erik and Kurt. "Alright, then what is is we need to do for you? Since I'm assuming this isn't a field trip."

"If you could watch the children — just for a short time," Erik said.

"That's a lot of kids for a couple of scientists," Tony said, even as he picked Sying up and tossed him in the air.

"We'll be good," Chance promised, with Elin barely peeking out from behind him and looking very much like she wanted to go back out into the jungle. "Dani and Ellie already know all the bedtime stories."

"Well that's good," Bruce said with a nod as he watched the little boy and the very wary tiny brunette behind him. "Would you two like to take a look at my experiment?"

For an instant, Chance looked excited, but he turned to Elin first. "Do you wanna?" he asked her

She shrunk in on herself a little bit and looked around the labs. Unable to find a decent place to outright hide, she very gently shrugged.

"Yes please," Chance told Bruce, carefully and slowly making his way over — with Elin still holding his hand — though he was grinning as he looked over Bruce's workspace.

As the little boy looked over the different gadgets and devices, Bruce reached up to retrieve a beaker from a shelf and then showed it — and the oblong magnet in the bottom of it — to the two kids. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, showing them the magnet. But when both of them shook their heads 'no,' he put it back in the bottom of the beaker. "I use it to stir things. Do you want to try it? We'll just use water. It won't be scary at all."

Chance glanced at Elin before he put on his best brave face and nodded. "I'll do it first," he said seriously.

"How about we do it together?" Bruce offered. He filled the beaker with water and placed it on a little machine — and as soon as he did, the little magnet in the bottom of the glass began to spin at a dizzying rate. "See? Stirs it up for me." He looked at Elin and tried to give her a little smile. "What's your favorite color?"

Chance looked over at Elin, who refused to take her eyes off of Bruce or to answer him. "She likes blue — but not like the ocean. More like … more like the sky."

Bruce nodded and held out a little dropper container of dye. "Would you like to put the color in for me? You can make it as blue as you want."

She shook her head quickly and stepped entirely behind Chance — who took over with a sheepish little grin. "I can show you which one she likes." He started to put the color in the beaker, drop by drop, until it was as close to the blue he thought Elin liked that he could get.

Bruce nodded at them both. "Good, very good. But …" He took the dye and put in two more drops, deepening the hue just slightly. "I like this one best. Do you want to start over and try it?" he asked, and when the little girl very shyly nodded once, he gave her a smile and pulled out a different dropper that made all the color in the water simply disappear. "Go ahead. It'll take more color now."

He was tickled when she stepped around Chance and started to play with Bruce, but it was just the thing that Wade and Kurt needed to see happen before they could go after Billy.

"Well, I should have known she would have decided to make friendly with Bruce Banner of all people," Kurt muttered quietly. "Her father will be thrilled, I'm sure."

"It's just fate," Wade agreed with a hand over his heart. "Had to happen."

"She's contrary, just like her mother," Kurt replied.

Wade chuckled and nodded. "Looks like her too. Gotta look in the eyes for her daddy."

"Let's just get going," Kurt said with a sigh. "And hope we don't run into them while we're out there."

Erik nodded, his eyes narrowed as he turned to Kurt. "He intended to go back to Haiti," he said, and that was all Kurt needed to hear. A moment later, the three men reappeared on the beach where Billy had disappeared. Wade immediately crouched low to the ground, looking for any sign of the young man who had gotten himself in trouble so very quickly.

They didn't need to look hard — or long — however. Weapon X had a reality-bender in their possession, and the ripples across reality were like breadcrumbs. Worrying breadcrumbs.

Wade was crouched down in the sand one moment — and then the next, he wasn't. He blinked back into reality after only a split second, but he was wide-eyed when he came back.

"O-o-o-kay," Wade said slowly. "Did you guys just see a creepy lab, or was that just me?"

Kurt and Erik shared a look of urgency and shook their heads almost in unison. "Did you see anyone else there?" Erik asked.

Wade shook his head. "I wasn't there long enough. But if I see our magical little buddy, I'll let you know," he said.

The air was ringing with the strange energy of Billy's power, and for a while, the three men simply followed that — though when they reached a helicopter pad, Wade frowned, and Kurt teleported over with his bamfs to the control tower. The struggle with the controllers was short and one-sided, and Kurt returned with a distinct frown on his face.

"They left from here not half an hour ago," he told Erik. "The flight plan is classified; it's not on any records."

Erik's eyes were narrowed, and the other two men could actually see the pull of the metal around Erik as the master of magnetism seemed to be on the verge of losing his temper. But before he could tear the helipad apart, he sensed something new: a rare metal that could only mean one thing.

He looked thunderous as he reached out a hand — and out of the nearby jungle, both Logan and K zoomed through the air toward him. "They send _you_. To deter _me_ from my grandson." Erik's eyes were bright with fury, and Kurt teleported to him in an instant.

"Don't," he said softly. "Erik, please."

"We don't have time for your sentiment, Nightcrawler," Erik said, but it was a sign of how closely they had worked together for so long that he paused the slightest bit, not outright crushing the two ferals in his grasp, though he was holding them both perfectly still, every bone in their bodies under his command.

The sharp sound of bullets hitting katanas caught their attention for a brief instant, and both Kurt and Erik looked to see Wade burst through the trees — several yards from where he had been a moment before — though he quickly reoriented himself to deal with the few guards there at the helipad.

"They're growing more frequent," Kurt said with a frown. "These ripples…"

As if to prove the point, Erik very suddenly put a hand to his heart, and an instant later, Kurt felt it too, like a shock to his chest that stopped his heart and his breath. It was enough to send them both to their knees, though it passed quickly enough. Logan and K both hit the ground running, but Erik recovered quickly enough to stop them in their tracks. Still, he was clearly winded.

Kurt helped Erik back to his feet, and he could see in the older man's eyes that he had already made a decision even before Erik breathed out his decision, "I'm truly sorry, Kurt. But we cannot delay any longer."

Kurt frowned hard, his heart hammering too hard in his chest from the restart. "Erik," he said in a pleading tone.

Erik reached out, and both Logan and K's heads tipped back... but he paused the moment before he meant to close his hand. For an instant, both Logan and K let out involuntary cries of pain that rang in Kurt's ears, and both of his friends fell to the earth, with bloody, shining metal torn out of them.

Kurt sprang forward in anger, seizing Erik by the collar. "You-"

"Kurt." Erik held up a hand between the two of them. "I've only removed the foreign metal that should not have been there— _not_ the adamantium."

Kurt was just inches from Erik, but at that, he paused. "You… what?"

Erik gestured to Logan and K, who were in a heap on the beach. And while Kurt could see now that they were not… boneless… they were still bad off, lying in much of their own blood, their eyes open and staring. His chest heaving, he waited, watching, just… hoping that one of them would take a breath. Just one.

Erik, meanwhile, had a small, terrifying device just in front of him. He frowned at it, with the other one floating just behind him. Both of them, with long, sinewy tendrils like fine wires that were writhing and searching on their own accord. He narrowed his eyes at the device before he simply dismantled it piece by piece, one microfilament at a time, saving the small quarter-sized metal disc for last, expanding it so that he could see all the tiny circuit boards and parasitic energy source. He was frustrated when he moved to do the same for the second and found that not only could he not dismantle it but his feet had touched the ground, the usual powers of magnetism suddenly out of his reach.

But only for a moment. They returned a few seconds later, and he let out a breath of annoyance. "If you wish to keep them we should relocate. Now," Erik advised Kurt.

Kurt nodded his agreement, but none of the bamfs were willing to volunteer for that particular job, leaving Kurt to take both still-unmoving ferals with him as they teleported to the little-known, tiny little patch of sand known as Isla des Demonas. "They'll know where they've taken Billy, I'm sure," Kurt said.

"As long as I don't lose my abilities, we can find ways to interrogate," Erik replied, though he let out a breath and softened his stance just slightly as Kurt glared at him. "I _meant_ that I would keep them from attacking us."

"That's a very, very important distinction," Wade agreed, nodding several times over as he frowned at the two unmoving former X-Men, gingerly smacking Logan's cheeks.

"And it will depend entirely on if they wake up," Erik added.

Wade scoffed at Erik and shook his head. "Of course they will — we're only partway through the volume!"

Erik let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Must you, Wade?"

"I'm just saying," Wade muttered, now moving on to poking K's arm. "You think they need mouth to mouth?"

"No," K croaked quietly. "Please." Her eyes were closed, and she looked as if she'd frankly been hit by a truck — though she did begin to panic when she realized that she couldn't move.

"K," Kurt said carefully, "are you back with us, then?"

It took her a moment to concentrate — seeing as she was nearly hyperventilating from the disturbing sensation of being held down by her bones. But she seemed to be thinking it over and searching out the answer before she answered with a very unsure "Yes?"

"The device laced through your body — both of your bodies — has been removed," Erik told her, though he didn't let her up either.

But the news seemed to have the opposite effect that Kurt had expected. K started to get upset all over again — unable to stop herself from crying silently to herself with her eyes closed.

Kurt glanced at Erik for only a moment before Erik let her go — and rather than take the few steps to get to her, he simply teleported there so he could be there faster to wrap her up, gently shushing her as Logan started to wake up as well.

"What's goin' on?" Logan asked, trying to see who and what had K upset like that. "And where the hell are we?"

"Islas des Demonas," Kurt told him. "That device — that _thing_ inside you — it's gone, _mein Freund_."

Logan fell silent and then let out a deep breath. "Can I get you to move, Kurt? And … maybe let me up?"

Kurt looked between his two friends and simply stepped back, nodding softly as Erik released his hold on Logan as well — and gave Wade an imperious look to keep him quiet, since Wade had his hands clasped underneath his chin with a _delighted_ expression on his face.

Logan moved to take over for Kurt, and after just a few moments, Wade simply couldn't hold back before he nearly bowled both of them over in his attempt to join the party. "Can I get a hug too?" he asked, only to be completely shocked when K shifted to do exactly that.

"I truly hate to interrupt a touching reunion," Erik broke in after the hug had lasted for as long as he was willing to wait, "but we do have a pressing matter at hand."

"What do you need?" K asked when Wade set her back on the ground.

"To know where Weapon X has taken William," Erik told her frankly.

The two ferals shared a look and nodded. "I'm guessing this is some … different dimension shift or something?" Logan asked.

"We're not entirely sure," Erik admitted.

Logan nodded in understanding and let out a breath. "All the highest value mutants are taken to Iceland," Logan said. "There's a base — as corny as it sounds — in the shadow of the volcano at Reykjavik."

Kurt simply nodded and glanced to the bamfs — and an instant later, all of them were in Iceland, where it was easier to feel the ripples in reality. The whole place was filled with that strange energy.

"Pretty sure we're not going to be able to walk in without being stopped," K pointed out. "Or we would." She looked up at Erik with an expression of true regret. "But I'm more than happy to kill whoever you want dead."

"You're welcome to come, if only to be there if our powers fail momentarily," Erik said, though he was already levitating, both hands outstretched as a familiar field started up.

She nodded and fell into step next to him as he floated along and simply tore the doors off their hinges and flung them aside before continuing right in, entirely unbothered by the soldiers who opened fire. He was crushing helmets and guns alike all the way through — until they got to the deeper levels where the mutants were taken.

He came to an impasse, and the two ferals made the decision on which way to go for him — away from the larger group of soldiers — while K promised that it was a short cut. "They're trying to draw you the wrong way," she said. "That will put you in a corner filled with dampeners."

"And _no one_ puts Magneto in a corner," Wade said with a nod.

K gave him half a smile before she turned to Logan. "I love your brother, by the way."

Wade let out a gleeful giggle at that and beamed her way. "I heard that — you _all_ heard that. No takesie backsies!"

"Not now, Wilson," Logan grumbled, though he too, had a little smirk as he rushed ahead and kicked open an entirely wooden set of doors for Erik. But when the doors came open, they could finally _hear_ where Billy was — at least, those with enhanced hearing could hear the muffled sounds of screaming that coincided exactly with the moment Erik's magnetic shield fell apart and he hit the ground. .

" _Helvete_ ," K muttered. "We're on it ... " And just like that, both ferals were running flat out to cut the shortest path to where Billy was being held. No one's abilities were working, but it didn't stop the two of them from doing an amazing tag team of razor sharp death on their way to the room holding Wiccan and a dump truck-load of terrifying technology and equipment.

The path was blocked to start with, but once Wade and Kurt both joined in with their swords, the slice and dice routine became even more deadly against the Weapon X soldiers and guards — more so when the powers came back on.

As soon as they were halfway close to where Billy was, Logan rushed forward and cut through the power supply. It did him no favors — he shocked himself backward a good several feet, and he was smoking when he hit the ground — but at least whatever nightmares they were pumping into Billy were cut off at the knees.

Erik was just behind Logan, pure fury etched in his features as the machinery simply either crumpled or fell to pieces at his command, freeing up Billy. But the young man didn't move or open his eyes either, half curled on himself and crying.

But as the men in the group were all holding off the Weapon X forces, K managed to slip around them to the clearly upset Wiccan, pulling him close as best she could, his face on her shoulder as he leaned into her, though it was almost like he was holding onto a lifeline for as tightly as he had hold of her.

"Hey, they have it covered," K told him, running her hand over his hair as she kept him close. "We're getting out of here."

He was all but trembling as he shook his head. "I can't…"

"Can't what, sweetheart?" she asked before she instinctively gave him a little kiss on the temple. "It'll be fine."

He was surprised by the little kiss and turned his face her way, peeking up at her for just a moment — with eyes that were filled with what seemed to be actual, moving galaxies instead of irises. "I can't hold it," he told her.

She was careful to keep her reaction to herself on seeing the change in him. She had no idea what it meant, and she simply wanted to help him calm down. "Of course you can," she told him. "If you want to."

He paused at the second half of her statement, his eyes widening as the galaxies seemed to swirl brighter there. "I don't know if I'm ready," he admitted in a very small voice. "I could ruin _everything_."

"Or you could make it all the way it's supposed to be," she replied with a tiny smirk. "I trust you to do what you _feel_ is right."

He held her gaze, still wide-eyed, for a long time before he closed his eyes again and nodded. After only a moment, the charged energy from before seemed to intensify until it had everyone's hair standing on end — and then Billy shot up through the roof of the building, melting a path like a comet.

Everything looked so small when Billy came to a stop somewhere about a mile above the facility — not just because of the height but because he could _see_. He could see everything. Billions of people at once. Weapon X, mutant, otherwise — he could see them. If he wanted, he could end them. He thought about it for a brief instant before he went higher.

He wasn't sure where he stopped, but it was no longer anything he recognized as Earth. Or reality. The plane that stretched before him, the ground he was _walking_ on, was made up of thousands of pieces, all of them worlds.

He crouched down where the ground seemed to be cracked and tipped his head to the side, frowning when he realized that it was his reality. His world. Filled with Weapon X and everything that he'd just seen. And he could see the tears in reality as clearly as if they were rips in paper.

Frowning, he put a hand on the ground, trailing one finger over the tears, and they crackled with a strange energy for a moment. He frowned deeper and placed both hands over the piece of ground, pouring magic he didn't even know he had into it until he could feel the pieces move beneath his hands,

But it didn't stop there. The energy seemed to come from every vein in his body, practically bleeding into the realities around him. Realities all around him splintered. Dimensions crackled and reformed. A hundred different possibilities in one world were all true at the same time.

There were so many to choose from. In this world, he had a little girl with Teddy. In this one, he and the Young Avengers were all that was left of the world after Kang the Conqueror rewrote it. Here was one where the Mandarin declared war on SHIELD. Here was one where Kate and Kurt never met… And always, _always_ , there was his, like a lightpost.

He could change it, if he wanted. He could change so much. Stop so much suffering. And he could see the ripples that would follow if he did. A slight tweak here, and Bastion would overrun the X-Men — but Billy would have his brother around into old age. A slight tweak there, and they were able to adopt the little boy they'd been looking at — but Kang the Conqueror overtook the world. Another change here and Teddy's people didn't try to wreck their wedding — but the ripples led to Sabretooth getting loose and killing K long before James was even a thought.

A simple stolen wallet had ruined one reality. He wasn't going to ruin another.

But… there were still changes he _could_ make. He reached into reality, to _his_ reality, underneath the mansion. And he reached into reality and gave his grandfather just a little boost on his way to Weapon X in the _right_ reality, the one where Tommy had just flatlined….

He frowned and turned his attention away from _his_ reality to the ones reforming all around him, surprised when he realized there was one at the very center. It wasn't _his_ , though that would make sense. It was shiny, new — and it was the one he had just come from. He reached for it, trying to find the ripples there, but to his surprise, there was nothing he _could_ change there. It was the center of it all, the reality where he became the Demiurge. So it would stay, brand new, right there in the middle of everything.

His frown deepened at that. He had meant to fix everything. He'd meant to put reality back, get rid of everything horrible that had happened altogether. But there it was, still exactly as he left it.

He reached into that reality — this time not to change it but to enter it. He should have gone home, but… he had condemned an entire reality to the fallout of his one mistake. The least he could do was make sure they were… well. Relatively alright.


	5. Billy's Reality

Erik turned his gaze at last from the searing red hole in the roof when he could no longer see Wiccan and glared at K. "What — what _happened_?"

"I don't know," she replied from where she still hadn't gotten up after being blasted back by Billy's exit. It was clear she was just as confused as anyone else and still trying to figure it out. "I was just … trying to get him to stop crying."

Erik looked thunderous as he lifted her up, one hand outstretched and a sneer on his lips. "What did you _do_?" he demanded, floating up so he could look at her eye to eye, already set to tear her apart magnetically.

"I was holding him," she replied, wide-eyed herself. "I told him I trusted him."

"Can we _ma-a-a-aybe_ have this argument somewhere else?" Wade asked as he ran a Weapon X soldier through.

"Not until I know where William is," Erik said with real heat to his tone — though while he still had K held up by her bones, he was angry enough that anything else metal — Logan and swords excluded — was simply crumbling and folding in on itself all around them.

Logan froze as he saw the position that Erik had K held in — a little too familiar for him to ignore. "She's not lying," he told Erik. "She didn't _do_ anything."

Erik turned a furious glare Logan's way, but when Logan held his gaze, Erik's finally softened, and he let K down as he let out his breath. "If anyone else is being held here, we should find them and then raze this place."

"Well," said a new voice — familiar, but slightly changed — as Billy seemed to materialize out of the air. "There is still James. I saw him here. I saw everyone." The young man's voice sounded different, like there was a slight echo, and his eyes were still filled with galaxies. What's more, the sides of his hair were completely white just above his ears and all the way around.

K and Logan shared a look — they hadn't told anyone in the X-Men about the baby they were expecting when they were captured, and it had seemed like nothing to bring up since … well. They thought the boy was dead. " _James_?" K asked, the look of confusion and fear totally gone as a deep rage sparked up, along with a growl low enough that it was felt rather than heard by the men in the room.

Billy nodded softly and gestured the right way. "Three corridors down, and to your left," he said, his voice still echoing slightly.

She didn't question him, simply turning on her heel and starting off at a brisk pace, with the rest of them following close behind.

Erik still looked confused by the exchange. "Who is James?" he asked.

"Their little boy," Billy explained. "He'll be… just over two by now." He glanced toward Erik and smiled. "Don't worry. He'll be alright, given enough time."

As they spoke, K rushed into the room that Billy had mentioned, though she'd had to cut her way in — not in any kind of mood to wait for Logan or Erik or anyone else. She stalked in, her lips curled back, looking for whoever it was that was dumb enough to get between her and her little boy.

The door opened into a massive room, and the men followed her in and spread out to see where James might be tucked away. They were halfway across it when Billy pointed out the man trying to sneak out with the little boy in his arms.

Logan locked on to the guy and then looked toward K and barely got to Erik to push him gently out of her path as she took off toward the guy at a dead run. "You've heard about mother bears," Logan told him. "This … is a little worse than that."

They watched as Billy managed to get the black-haired little boy away from the Weapon X guy — not holding him but simply lifting him up before K tackled the guy and started to beat the life out of him, all low growls and snarls that ended with a sharp crack as she broke the man's neck and headed toward Logan — who was now holding their son. When she got within a few yards, her shoulders dropped and the two of them tried to introduce themselves to the little boy that they never got to meet until now.

"I wish I could do a few more reunions like that," Billy said with a small smile as he hung back with the others. "There's a few more you'd've liked."

"Which part?" Wade asked. "The darling little boy or the snarling and neck breaking — because I'm pretty sure she'll repeat that performance."

Billy chuckled and shook his head. "I just meant… I wish there were more of the people I know. The kids I know." He glanced to Wade, twinkling starlight in his gaze. "I can't change much here. I could change any reality I wanted, but not this one. Sorry."

"Well that's just … stupid," Wade said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Couldn't you .. I dunno … make everything unchangeable in some universe where everyone is happy and living in little picket fence cottages?" He pointed a finger at Billy. "I know there has to be one like that."

"Yeah, there is. And little flower people. And one where everyone is a princess. I've seen them all," Billy agreed with a small smile.

Wade waved his hand at Billy dismissively. "I don't know what you're talking about … I'm _always_ a princess."

"Well, there you go." Billy shook his head at him. "But ... I can help you get rid of Weapon X."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure at this point we just need to have Logan stand on one side of the room and hold little James up like Simba so she can see him?" Wade shrugged up to his ears. "The rest will take care of itself."

"Yes, well. I know where the bases are. And who is still alive," Billy said. He looked sheepish. "I know… just about everything about this dimension. It's kind of… central."

"Know-it-all," Wade said under his breath.

"In this case, yes. Yes, I am."

"If we get rid of Weapon X, will that lighten everyone up a little bit and give me a chance to go find a nice girl out there somewhere?" Wade asked as he stretched out and went looking for his swords. "Because I'm kind of getting tired of watching everyone else's kids."

"Try Scandinavia," Billy said with a small smirk.

"Well, when you narrow it down to just Northern Europe …"

"It's more fun if you find her yourself," Billy chuckled.

"Oh, Billy-boy, I am _not_ complaining," Wade said with a grin. "That's a whole lot of pretty to sift through."

Billy nodded and then glanced at Erik. "So… do you mind if I stay for a while? Just to make sure you're all … relatively alright?"

"I wish you would," Erik said.

Billy smiled at that and nodded. "Then if it's alright with all of you, let's move this reunion to …" He tipped his head. "Ah. You went to the Savage Land. I was going to say Avalon."

"We had to abandon Avalon," Kurt replied.

Billy frowned. "Right. That was my fault." He glanced up at Kurt with a perfectly open expression. "So much of what happened here is my fault. I don't even know how to begin to apologize."

"Nothing that happened was done maliciously," Kurt replied gently. "I was blessed to have her in my life while I did." Billy nodded quietly, though he didn't say anything further. If he pointed out now that he had _created_ this world…

K and Logan made their way over to the group very slowly. K was holding the little boy finally as he studied her face with an expression of pure concentration.

"Why don't I take you to where Elin is?" Kurt offered.

"Where is she?" Logan asked, pausing for a moment with a look that wasn't easily placed. "Would she even want to see us after you spent all this time raising her?"

"Wade has been sure to tell them all stories of their parents. What they are and were _truly_ like," Kurt promised him.

"Stories and the truth don't usually line up," K said softly. "Not that I doubt your mad skills, Wade."

"Then why don't we see for ourselves?" Kurt suggested, and an instant later, all of them were in the Savage Lands, just outside the door to the room where the kids were playing with Bruce and Tony.

Kurt paused at the door. "Most of them are painfully shy. It's no reflection on you," he warned.

The two ferals shared a look that clearly read that they thought Kurt was being far too generous. As usual. "You're running the show, Elf," Logan said, though he was obviously uncomfortable.

Kurt nodded and pushed open the door, and while there was a high squeaky sound of delight for a moment when Krissy saw her dad, the kids stopped and positively scattered into hiding spots when they saw Logan and K.

"We're … not causing trouble," K said — more to Tony and Bruce than to the kids.

"As if I would bring you here if you were," Kurt said in a tone of near offense as he scooped up Krissy and the little girl half hid in his shoulder.

K shifted in place as she readjusted her grip on James. "Sure," she said slowly before she turned to Bruce and Tony, tipping her head toward James. "Is there any way you could check him over? I really want someone outside of those creeps to tell me he's healthy."

Bruce met her gaze for a moment and then nodded, gently reaching out to take James, though the little guy seemed hesitant to do much of anything, too unfamiliar with his surroundings. Bruce frowned quietly but readjusted his hold so he was halfway cradling the little boy.

"They told me he died," she said with a wavering voice as a means of explanation, her arms crossed in front of herself tightly.

"Then they lied," Bruce said.

"No kidding," she replied, still frustrated and angry over all of it.

"Do you mind if I…" Bruce gestured to a door nearby. "It won't take long, but the kids aren't quite comfortable with all… this."

"Go ahead," Logan told him. "We can step outside."

"No, they likely need more exposure to you. I'll be back," Bruce said, still wearing a small frown as he got to his feet and slipped off to check James over.

"We can wait here," Kurt offered, gesturing to a nearby long couch that, until a few moments ago, the kids had been occupying. He sat down with Krissy still wrapped up in him, pointedly not looking toward any of the kids' hiding places so that they would feel safe to come out on their own.

Logan and K shared a look before Logan put his hand at the small of K's back to urge her forward. When they sat down, the two of them were nearly sharing a cushion, curled into each other tightly.

They sat in silence for a little while, though Krissy kept stealing little peeks at them before burying her face again, not entirely sure what to do with each of them — until finally, the little advance scout poked his head out from underneath one of the tables and made his way very carefully over.

"How come you're here?" he asked with all the bluntness of a five-year-old, his arms crossed over his chest.

They both seemed taken aback by the way the question was phrased. "Because Kurt brought us here," Logan replied.

Chance shook his head. "I saw that. I mean how come you're _here_?"

"Where do you think we should be?" Logan asked.

The little boy shuffled his feet. "Well. Not here," he said. "We're not supposed to let you find us, I thought."

"We're not going to hurt you," Logan told him. "We're on your side. And you don't have to run anymore."

Chance frowned at that and glanced at Kurt, who nodded gently. "Okay. Well. If Kurt says it's okay," he finally said.

"Logan is my very best friend," Kurt promised. "And K is absolutely wonderful. I promise: neither of them will ever hurt you. Ever."

"But you can decide for yourself," K said, giving Kurt a look.

Chance seemed to think about it for a long time before he nodded and climbed up to sit on Kurt's other side — not by the ferals but still watching them carefully. "If you guys're bad, I'm gonna grow up to be really big, so you better _watch it_ ," he said with his arms crossed.

"If you decide we're bad, we'll leave you alone," Logan told him. "And we won't ever bother you again."

Krissy picked her head up at that, her nose scrunched up. "Never ever?" she asked.

"Never ever," K agreed.

"That's a really really long time," Krissy said, still with her nose scrunched up. "And my papa likes you."

"It's not your papa's decision," K reasoned. "We don't want to scare you."

"I'm not scared," Chance insisted with his lower lip poked out.

K just stared at him for a moment, lips parted, unable to reply to him as he held her gaze for a moment, his chin thrust out.

"Of course you're not," Logan said with a little nod, though he wasn't too far behind K.

Chance glanced at Logan and nodded once before he climbed back down to go find his sister — which slowly prompted the other kids to poke their heads out as well.

Shocking the rest of the kids, Elin finally came out of her hiding place without being prompted. She made a silent beeline almost right to them and looked at Kurt for only a moment before she closed the distance the rest of the way and climbed right up on Logan and wrapped her arms around his neck. He very nearly let the stress go as he snuggled into her, and as Logan hugged her and she settled in, she reached over with one hand to rest on K's cheek. So it wasn't long before the three of them were wrapped up in each other.

"I don't think they're bad guys," Sying said at last. "Elin doesn't hug bad guys."

That seemed to be the cue for the kids to start to relax, too, going back to the game of Chutes and Ladders that they had been playing before, though both Krissy and Elin stayed on the couch where the snuggles were.

"Hey, Kurt," Tony called out after a while. "The news is reporting an 'unexplainable volcanic event' in Iceland. Know anything about that?" he asked.

"Not yet, but I'm sure we will," Kurt replied. "We just left Iceland not long ago."

"Did you build snowmen?" Krissy asked.

"There really wasn't much snow," Kurt told her as he booped her nose.

"You should build snowmen," Krissy said. "I can help! I can make snow angels too!"

"Then when we go somewhere with snow, you can do that — but not here, and not until we find a new place to live," Kurt replied.

"But we _just got here_ ," Krissy said, her eyes wide.

"Do you like the jungle?" Tony asked. "Because I am totally sick of it."

"Well…." Krissy thought about it, her tail swaying behind her. "I don't like being hot and sticky."

"Yeah, but most of the north was taken over by bad guys," Tony said. "Right, K? The entire northern neighbor is evil."

"Well … there might be a spot or two that's acceptable," K replied as Elin curled into her mother finally. "But they're pretty remote. Probably too remote for you, rich boy."

"I like beaches," Krissy offered. "Even if the sand gets in my fur. We hid there one time, and it was my favorite."

"I like snow and fires," K told her. "We could have hot chocolate."

"I do like chocolate," Krissy said.

"Can we come too?" Charlie asked, looking up from the board game.

K glanced to Kurt and tried to deflect the question. "That would be up to Kurt, I think."

"You mean it's up to them," Kurt replied. "If your staying or going is based on if they want you to stay or go, then then joining you must be based on the same logic."

"Unless you think it's a bad idea," Logan added.

"Why would it be a bad idea to have hot chocolate?" Chance asked as if this was the most ridiculous thing he'd heard all day.

"They still think you're afraid of them," Kurt told Chance in a mock whisper.

Chance shook his head stubbornly and looked Logan and K's way. "I _told_ you I'm not scared," he said, one hand on his hip to accentuate the point.

"Oh, I've missed that look," K whispered to Logan as neither one of them seemed able to look away from Chance.

"So we can come for hot chocolate?" Charlie asked brightly.

"Anytime you like," K agreed as Logan gave her a look that all but screamed 'too fast'.

Charlie nodded and grinned sheepishly down at the board game.

"As long as Kurt says it's alright," Logan added when it was clear that K had no plans to amend her statement.

"Of course it is," Kurt said, giving Logan a little raised eyebrow look that turned into a smirk K's way.


	6. Worn Down

While Logan and K were reintroducing themselves, Erik was following his newly all-seeing grandson. The young man seemed determined, though Erik was still trying to understand just what these new changes were and what their implications could be.

Billy was floating along ahead of Erik, who was floating as well … not for any real anger on his part but because his pride wouldn't let him simply and _meekly_ follow along — even if he had no idea what was going on.

But it was no time at all before they found themselves at another facility, much like the one they had just rescued Billy from. It was a little bit smaller, but Billy tipped his head Erik's way with a dark sort of look.

"This is … mid-level holding," Billy said, pausing to search for the right word to explain it. "Not as high-priority as where they held the Howletts and other healers, but there's a few 'weapons' and _potential_ weapons…" He let out a breath. "This is where they've got a friend of mine — and this is where they've been keeping Gerry Drew."

Erik raised an eyebrow at that. "We haven't been able to identify where they were holding him on our own. It's been the source of some anguish for Kurt — knowing there was a little blond orphaned half-Hawkeye…"

"Yeah." Billy let out a breath. "They're hoping he has his father's healing powers — only moreso. He's already got his mother's super strength, wallcrawling… they're already training him. Just… so you know what we're walking into."

Erik tipped his chin up. "They won't be 'training' him much longer," he said, eyes flashing.

Billy nodded his fervent agreement, and the two men made their way inside — not bothering to be subtle about it, either. Erik blasted open the doors as he'd done before, and this time, Billy was right there beside him, wordless spells blazing paths ahead of them in a way Erik had simply never seen from him before.

Billy's newfound powers were practically a beacon for them to find their way toward the cells — where Erik wasn't surprised to see that there were several mutants being kept. He waved his hand, and in short order, the two of them were directing the escapees toward freedom.

It seemed that Billy was headed specifically for one cell toward the end of the hall, though, and when they arrived, Erik could see why. The cell contained one of his old teammates.

Noh-Varr looked far more worn down than Erik had ever seen him. He was asleep on the floor of the bare cell, even with all the noise of the escape around him. That in itself was telling, but it wasn't until Billy stooped down beside his friend and gently removed a band around his head that Erik could see yet another way the department had been controlling people.

Noh's eyes popped open, and he took a moment to try to focus. Without the band disrupting his ability to reroute his brainwaves, this was the first time in a _long_ time that he wasn't being told what to think — and it was clear he had to take a moment to process it all.

Finally, he seemed to focus on his old friend. "Billy?"

Billy smiled. "Hey, Noh. You look terrible."

Noh almost chuckled at that as Billy helped him to his feet. "I'm sure you will fill me in on everything that has happened since…" He paused and let his shoulders drop. "Do you know how many survived?"

"Not as many as I'd like," Billy admitted, one shoulder under Noh's as he nodded toward Erik, who simply led the way out. "We've got one more stop to make while we're here before Erik and I level this place. You're welcome to join in if you've got the energy for it."

"I'm not entirely sure I do," Noh admitted. "My meals came only just before a mission, to ensure that I was docile the rest of the time even in case of a power failure or some other mishap in their controls."

Erik's eyes narrowed, but that was the only indication he gave the two younger men behind him that he was listening to their conversation. Instead, he led the way toward the exit and directed the former captives on where to go before he took Billy's cue to go the opposite way — toward what seemed to be an area designated for research.

And in addition to a few more captives — several of whom had clearly been unwilling test subjects — there was a cell with a little blond boy curled up on a cot, his knees drawn nearly up to his chin.

Immediately, Billy dropped to one knee and put on his softest expression as he knelt in front of Gerry. "Hey, buddy," he said in a gentle tone. "Hey, Gerry. Do you remember me?"

Gerry frowned at Billy for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

"That's alright. You weren't very old when you saw me last time," Billy said. "My grandfather and I are here to get you out, okay?"

Gerry frowned at that and glanced between Billy and Erik before he bit his lip and shook his head. "I go here," he said in such a quiet tone that Billy almost missed it.

Billy frowned hard. "What?"

"This is where I go," Gerry said, even softer. "No running. No fighting."

Erik narrowed his eyes at that before he simply reached out a hand — and half the cell came apart with his power. "You no longer have to listen to those cretins," Erik told Gerry, his tone far more commanding than the quiet one Billy had been using.

And, to Billy's surprise… that seemed to work. All at once, Gerry rushed forward and attached himself to Erik, holding onto a couple fistfulls of cape. And while Erik seemed surprised, he simply picked the little boy up and allowed Gerry to hold on a little better.

"Now then," Erik said, fire flashing in his gaze. "Let's show these men what happens when they try to make mindless drones of _children_."

* * *

Of course, the rest of the group that had gone after Billy had no idea what the two Lensherrs were up to — so it was a surprise when the two of them showed up in the hideout in the Savage Lands.

And it was even more of a surprise to see the state of affairs: Erik had a small blonde boy all but attached to him, grasping to him for dear life, and behind him, Billy and Noh-Varr were wrapping up a discussion of some sort.

"Would you like to meet any—" Erik started to ask the little boy clutching to him, but he didn't even look up before he shook his head and held onto Erik tighter, and Erik sighed, looking around for a moment before he pulled up a seat out of the metal in the floor and settled in with the small blond still half curled into him; it was clear he wasn't going to go anywhere.

Noh looked past the group and gave K a wan smile for just a moment before he saw Sying and seemed to let out all his breath. "You've grown," he said softly Sying's way, though the little boy was considering him with a little frown and his head tipped to the side.

"They're a bit shy," Kurt said.

"Understandable," Noh said, simply sinking into a seat on the couch close to K. "It's good to see you again — both of you," he said softly.

"Love you too, sparkly moon man," K replied quietly, and Elin let out a tiny giggle at the name.

Noh smiled her way. "Hello there, little sister," he said. "You have grown as well."

Elin peeked up at Noh, emboldened by simply getting her parents returned to her. She gave him a tiny smile — but quickly settled back into K.

"About that … the little sister thing," K said.

Noh frowned and turned her way. "Ah, yes, well, if you have changed your mind—"

"No, not at all," K promised. "It's just that … I was pregnant when we were captured. And we just got him back. Dr. Banner is looking him over."

Noh's smile started to spread very slowly. "That," he said, "is wonderful news."

"He doesn't know us any more than he knows you," Logan clarified.

"That is not as good to hear," Noh said with a little frown.

K looked down at Elin until the two met each other's gaze. "You're a big sister," K told her. "I'm sorry you didn't get to meet him sooner. But … we all got to meet him on the same day anyhow."

"I can help you be a big sister," Charlie offered when Elin looked rather wide-eyed. "I know how."

Elin looked as if she was simply thinking it over for a moment. "Doesn't count," she told her.

Charlie looked offended, but Chance looked absolutely triumphant and broke into a giggle and a muttered, "Toldja so," that earned him a truly withering Summerseque _glare_.

"So much better when it's not directed right at you," K whispered to Logan — just to rile him a little. "Don't you think?"

He gave her a very dry look. "No. No I don't."

"Then you _do_ miss that look," she countered. "Lucky for you …" She gestured to the twins without further explanation.

Meanwhile, Sying was very carefully edging closer to Noh, staring at him in awe, until he said, "You look like me."

"Yes, I do," Noh agreed, watching him just as carefully.

All at once, the little boy climbed up into Noh's lap — not for a hug but to study him closer. Noh let him satisfy his curiosity until Sying leaned forward and asked, "Are you really fast too?"

Noh nodded. "Yes, I am."

Sying grinned at that. "Good. Okay." He climbed back down and returned to his game with Chance and Charlie, though Noh could hear him whispering, "He's a lot like me," to the twins.

"You're prettier," K promised Sying.

Sying looked surprised her way before he giggled. "Okay," he agreed with a little nod.

Krissy had to giggle too. " _Handsomer_ ," she corrected them both. "Pretty's for girls."

"Not true," K replied. "Logan has pretty eyes, and your papa has pretty curls."

Krissy seemed to consider this, looking both of them over carefully. "I guess so," she conceded at last.

"She just wants to be pretty too," Sying whispered with a little grin.

"She doesn't have to want to," K whispered back. "She looks like her mother."

Both Sying and Krissy grinned at that, and Kurt gave K a small look before Krissy climbed out of his lap to play with the others, now teasing Sying about how 'pretty' he was.

It wasn't much longer that Bruce emerged from the room with James on his hip, the little guy not really holding on to him but using him for balance. He made his way right over to the Howletts, and Elin shifted from her mother to her father to make room for James. "He seems perfectly healthy," Bruce said as he handed him to K, though the little guy didn't curl up to her in the least. "I think he's been pretty isolated … so you'll need to really pour on the attention. I tried to tickle him?" Bruce shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck as he gestured with his free hand to Logan. "Kind of got a reaction like that. Just … glares."

K nodded and tried to get James' attention, though it didn't last long, as he was trying to take in all the newcomers at once.

Sying watched the little boy for a while too, the two of them studying each other intently, before he looked toward Elin. "This is your little brother?" he asked.

Elin just nodded. "His name is James," she told him, snuggling into Logan's chest.

Sying nodded at that. "Okay." He climbed up so he was in Noh's lap again and smiled encouragingly at James. "Hi. I'm Sying," he said.

James just watched him until K turned to Sying. "He hasn't learned his name," she told him quietly. "I don't know what they called him."

At that, the little blond in Erik's arms shifted — just the slightest — and whispered very quietly in Erik's ear. Erik stiffened, though he tried to soften it when he was still holding the little half-hawk, but the adults in the room could see he was _angry_ about it as he looked toward Logan and K and very barely managed to say the word "chi" without sounding livid in the boy's ear.

Both of them looked taken aback, and K very gently put her hand out for James to take. When he did, she held his hand very gently and talked low. "That's not your name, sweetheart." Her tone was soft and soothing. "We named you James before you were born."

He watched her before he turned to look at Logan and Elin, trying to make the connections between them all. As he was working it over, K reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes, very gently. He looked confused by the gesture, but when K kept very slowly playing with his hair, he started to lean into it. She moved her hand back until he leaned on her shoulder, his head resting on her collarbone, where he could listen to her heart beat. And that had the little guy relaxing properly.

"James doesn't talk very much," Sying observed with a little frown as he watched the whole interaction, perched on his father's knee.

"No, but he knows his mom," Billy said with a small smile.

"Yeah, looks like," K said with a sarcastic tone, though the little guy let out a big, hitching yawn.

"Oooh, is it time for bedtime?" Krissy asked, her head tipped to the side. "Wade isn't here for stories!"

"You still have a few hours," Erik told her. "It seems that James just has a different bedtime — or something other than a bedtime story to get him to settle in."

"Oh, good. I still wanna play," Krissy said with a little smile. She glanced at Gerry, who was still refusing to let go of Erik. "Does he wanna play? We can play quiet games."

"You can try," Erik said. "But don't feel too badly if he refuses."

Krissy nodded and nosed her way over, her ears perked up with her smile. "We're all gonna play, if you want to," she told him, though he very quietly shook his head and tightened his hold on Erik. She frowned but patted him on the knee gently, which got him to freeze. "That's okay," she said. "Maybe next time."

K looked over James's head to Tony and Bruce. "Is there somewhere we can lie down?"

"There's a bedroom in the back," Bruce said. "You can take mine."

K stood up and gave him a grateful look, though it was clear she was trying not to smirk. "Are you sure?"

"It's cleaner," Bruce said.

"I'm sure it is," K said, the smirk breaking loose at his reasoning before she offered Elin her free hand. "Lead the way?"

Bruce just nodded, and the three of them followed him out.

"She ... " Logan let out a semi- irritated grumble. "...knows how to poke the bear." He turned toward Kurt. "And I'll bet Banner has it figured out by the time he gets back here."

"I'm sure he will," Kurt said, trying not to chuckle and failing.

"Not that the other option would be much better," Logan added, though it looked like Tony just got the joke.

"Oh. Come on," Tony said. "It _would_ be better though, right? I smell _way_ better." Logan gave him a dry ook, and Tony very loudly cleared his throat at that.

When Bruce finally did come back, it was clear from his expression that he had realized what was up, as he glanced to Logan, frowned, and sat down at his workbench with a deeply settled frown that didn't quite leave his expression.

In the meantime, though, Logan was getting updates from the little brown-haired boy who had climbed up into his lap once K left with Elin and James, having decided that Logan was one of the good guys — so Logan couldn't respond much to Banner anyway. Not when Chance was explaining about Elin's favorite color of blue.

"And we got to put blue inside the water until it was _just_ the right color," Chance said excitedly. "And then Bruce put in something new, and we got to start _all over again_."

"Did you get your color just right?" Logan asked.

"Well, _I_ like red, but we were using blues," Chance reasoned.

"Of course you do."

"We were gonna play with red next, but Elin finally got to use the dropper, so that was first," Chance explained easily. "And then we got distracted…. Um. Sying and Krissy were arguing, I think. They do that a lot."

"Why do you think they do that?" Logan asked.

Chance giggled and leaned forward to do his best whisper. "Cause Sying likes Krissy, duh."

"That's what I thought," Logan said. "He's always been like that."

Chance nodded several times. "Mmmhmm. Wade says ever since they were _babies_. He says it's genest-tic."

"Probably," Logan agreed. "Just like you tryin' to help Elin."

"Elin's my best friend," Chance said with a grin. "That's how come I take care of her really well and know things like her favorite color."

"I'm glad you do, kiddo," Logan told him.

Chance grinned and nodded, then looked thoughtful for a second before he asked, "Can I still be her best friend?" He looked half-pleading. "Even if she has a new brother and a mom and dad now?"

"I don't know why you couldn't," Logan told him. "I bet she'd like it if you went campin' with us too."

He broke into an even wider grin. "That sounds like fun!"

"I know a few good spots that no one has even set foot on in years," Logan told him.

"Oh." He looked a bit put out. "Are we still hiding? I thought we were done."

"No more hidin'," Logan promised. "I just like places like that."

Chance considered it for a while before he finally nodded. "Okay," he said. "As long as we're not staying there _forever_."

"I was thinkin' more like a week."

"That's a long time," Chance said. "That's seven whole days!"

"But it's not forever," Logan replied. "And … we might be able to go to a spot your dad really liked."

"Really?" Chance tipped his head to the side. "Where is that?"

"Up in Alaska," Logan told him. "He'd go up there every now and again to stay in a cabin and fish."

"Can we go _there_?" Chance asked softly, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, we can," Logan said with a nod.

Chance broke into a huge grin and leaned into Logan for a quick hug. "I would like that _a lot._ "

"As often as you wanna go," Logan agreed.

After that, it wasn't long before most of the kids started to get tired. It had been a long day, full of excitement and moving and playing and making new friends — though there was a small hiccup when the kids realized that Wade wasn't around to tell them stories. Kurt stepped in before they could get too upset about it, though half of the kids were already on the couch and not about to move at all. Chance decided Logan was perfect for sitting on for stories, and Sying and Krissy were still sitting on their respective fathers, so it turned into a cuddle pile quickly enough; everyone else wanted to be part of it.

Except for Gerry — who was _not_ moving. He had relaxed his death grip on Erik's shirt, but he also hadn't made a single move to get out of his lap or even look at anyone else, just listening to what was going on around him and hiding for the most part. He was definitely listening to the storytime, and Erik could see him relaxing as the stories went on, but any move Erik made to get up or try to move them closer to the others was met with Gerry taking a tighter hold of Erik's shirt and shaking his head, so he stayed put.

It wasn't until after all of the kids — including Gerry — had drifted off that Billy leaned over with a smile at the little blond kid. "I think he likes you," he told Erik when he saw the open-mouthed, relaxed way Gerry was leaning into his grandfather.

Erik shook his head as he readjusted the way Gerry was leaned on him so the little boy wouldn't wake up with a crick in his neck. "He's simply scared," he said, waving it away.

Billy smirked and shook his head. "Yeah, and the fact that you stormed the rest of the base one-handed had nothing to do with anything," he muttered before he gently rested a hand on Erik's shoulder. "It looks like you have things in hand. Not just with Gerry, I mean." He gestured with his other hand at the various sleeping kids and reunited friends. "And… I should really get back to my own reality, so to speak."

"I'm not sure that I agree with you," Erik replied, though it was hard to argue with the way Gerry was curled into him.

"To which part?" Billy asked. "You have the tools to rebuild, the kids are adjusting… as well as can be expected. Avalon is still in the sky if you want to use it as a hideaway until you're more established. You and Wade and I have recovered the few mutants they had ... I'm not sure what more you think needs doing that's more pressing than your own happiness for five minutes." He smiled gently. "You can relax, Grandpa. At least a little."

"And I'm sure any threat that comes toward these kids is going to get the snarly stab treatment anyhow," Tony pointed out.

"And more," Noh added softly. "Depending entirely upon who gets there first."

"See?" Billy grinned. "You did good. And… I've got my own grandfather to go back to. And my husband. As much as I'd love to stay, you've got your family to take care of, and I've got mine."

"I'm sure he'll return from time to time," Kurt added.

"Oh, absolutely," Billy said with a nod. "This place… in a way, I was born here." The galaxies behind his eyes glowed a bit brighter for a moment before he let out a sigh. "I'll see you soon," he said, and in an instant, he was gone again, blinking out like a light.


	7. Little Girls

Bobby was pacing in the cell that he'd been placed in with Chance. Storm and Magda were in a cell with Rachel — but no one had seen Elin, who was exactly the reason Bobby was so mad. "She's just as small as the other ones are," he said irritably as he headed away from the girls. "There's _no reason_ to separate her."

Chance was trying to match pace with Bobby — though with significantly shorter legs, it just wasn't possible. Still, he was nodding along to every muttered word he could hear Bobby say. "No reason," he agreed with all the force of an angry five-year-old. The little guy still had tear tracks down his face from the screaming fit he'd had when they had tried to separate him and Magda. But with Bobby as mad as he was, Chance had eventually changed tacts to follow Bobby's lead once he'd calmed down, copying his movements almost exactly with a watchful gaze — except the times when he paused and pressed his little face against the bars of the cell to peer across and try to see the girls.

Across the hall, Storm was still out cold, and Rachel had Magda tucked into a little ball in her lap. Out of everyone Weapon X had managed to get their hands on, Magda was the youngest, and she was clearly terrified. Unlike Chance, she hadn't had a screaming fit when the Weapon X soldiers separated them along boy/girl lines. Instead, she had just started crying, quietly — and she still hadn't stopped, no matter how much Rachel gently shushed her and tried to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

Still with his face pressed up against the bars of the cell, Chance watched with wide eyes as Magda sniffed and cried before he glanced up at Bobby with a perfectly serious expression. "If anybody touches my cousin, I'm gonna kick 'em in the shins."

Bobby stopped in his pacing to turn toward the little guy, let out a sigh, and crouch down beside him to ruffle his hair. "You won't have to worry about that; you know why?"

Chance shook his head, wide-eyed. "Why?"

Bobby tipped his head toward the cell across the hall where the girls were. "Because your big sister is tougher than any of the bad guys they've got here, and when Storm wakes up, she's super tough too."

Chance seemed to think this over for a long moment, glancing at Rachel, who held his gaze and nodded reassuringly. "Is… it okay if I still kick them in the shins, though? Because I really want to, because they made Magda cry."

"We'll see, bud," Bobby said before he gave the little guy a hug. "I don't want you getting hurt by beating anyone up."

"That's silly," Chance told him seriously. "I'm gonna kick _them_ , not the other way around."

"Make sure you talk to Logan about that when we get out of here," Bobby said with a smile. "It's not always easy to do stuff like that."

Chance nodded thoughtfully, his lips pursed into a frown. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'll ask him. I'm gonna go to school soon anyway, so maybe it'll be like that?" He glanced up at Bobby and started to smirk a little bit. "Kicking bad guys for homework?"

"I'll bet he'd go along with it if you put it like that," Bobby said with a little laugh. He glanced over at the girls and then made sure to meet Chance's gaze. "We should keep an eye on things," he told Chance quietly, "in case we need to kick someone's butt."

Chance nodded seriously. "We gotta take care of them," he said, gesturing with one little hand to the girls as he straightened up a little bit.

So when the group of them heard the commotion outside and down the hallway from where they were being held, Bobby had to step a bit in front of Chance — the kid was so ready to take on whoever it was. But Chance's 'heroic' look quickly turned into a full-on giggle when the doors simply flew off their hinges and they saw their rescue party: Erik, Scott and Noh.

The three rescuers wasted no time in disabling the dampening field that would have kept Erik from doing any more dramatics before Erik simply pulled the bars out of the walls so that the group of them could walk out — and Magda broke free of Rachel to run right to Erik and wrap herself around his leg. He just bent down and scooped her up to balance her with one hand as he kept right on working with the other outstretched.

"I have never been more thankful to have Magneto on our side," Bobby muttered as he followed behind him, Chance in his arms, even though the little boy was squirming to run after Erik too. To get him to ease up, Bobby iced up so they could slide on a path behind him, which seemed to get the kid to relax at least.

"He was instrumental in finding this place," Noh said, one arm underneath Storm to support her as she came back to consciousness, alongside Scott, who was glancing Rachel's way with a look that said the only reason he hadn't hugged her outright yet was that there was work to be done.

"Yeah, he's one high-powered metal detector, alright," Bobby replied as Rachel stepped up next to him and started to power up a bit on her own too — an unspoken agreement clear between them.

"Ooh, the bad guys are in trouble," Chance whispered with a delighted giggle as he watched the adults around him.

"Yep," Bobby said with a smirk. "They made your sister mad. Watch out!"

"They made my sister _and_ my dad _and_ Storm _and_ Erik mad," Chance agreed, listing them off on his fingers. "They are in a _lot_ of trouble."

The group of them followed behind Erik as he followed the winding paths down to where the Howletts were being held — and woe to anyone who tried to shoot at him while he was holding his granddaughter, because the soldiers who did weren't just crushed in their armor but torn apart by the armor itself. Out of eyesight of Magda, of course.

So when they did finally get to where the little Howlett family was being held apart from everyone else, it was just a matter of a whole bunch of ticked off X-Men versus Weapon X soldiers who clearly didn't understand the very, _very_ bad idea that it was to take on this group when their kids were in the mix. Storm and Rachel alone were bad enough, but throw in optic bursts and metal manipulation and even the huge group that was close by the Howletts were just… nothing. Not in the mood they were in.

They burst through the doors, and it took all of a few seconds for Erik to yank not only the doors but the restraints keeping Logan and K apart from each other and from Elin. Once again, Bobby had to play 'stop the Chance' to keep him from running in for a snuggle when K and Logan were intent on getting their little girl back.

K scooped up Elin as Logan turned to find the guy that he knew was in charge of that particular little experiment prep. It took moments to isolate him from the rest of the remaining group of doctors and guards before he just made a beeline for him — furious, growling, and claws bared. He drew his arm back and was rushing to skewer the guy when Scott called out for him to stop.

It was too late for Scott to get all the kids to look away or cover their eyes, and he cringed, missing the sound of Logan's claws retracting just before they would have made contact. Instead, the room echoed with the sound of adamantium-laced fists pounding the guy's face over and over.

The last of the soldiers either cleared out on their own or succumbed to one of the team members as Rachel scanned the doctors' minds for any potential trouble before she nearly wiped all of them clean. She gave her father a look as the computer mainframe behind her spontaneously combusted. "They were working on something truly awful," she told him. "It's a shame all the research was on that mainframe."

He had to smirk her way at that. "Yeah, a real shame," he agreed.

"They made Rachel mad," Chance supplied over Bobby's shoulder, grinning widely.

Rachel grinned right back at him before she came closer and booped him on the nose. "Not smart, huh?"

He giggled and shook his head 'no.'

"Someone had better remind Bobby of that," Noh said with a little smirk that had Scott's head swiveling his way with a look of disbelief.

"No, silly. Bobby _told me_ Rachel's tougher than _all_ the bad guys," Chance said, dissolving into little giggles as Bobby glanced at Scott and then Rachel and gave them both a little shrug.

"Yeah, well. It's true," he said.

"He's not wrong," Noh chuckled as the little group started to head out.

Once they were loaded up on the blackbird, they all seemed to fracture off into their little family groups for the flight. While the kids were still a bit keyed up after everything that they'd been through, by the time they got back to the mansion, everyone under the age of eight was asleep — Elin on Logan, Magda on Erik, and Chance on Scott.

The moment the jet touched down, they were greeted by a very relieved-looking Annie, who rushed to where Chance and Scott were to fuss over the sleeping little boy, as well as a nervous Alex and Lorna, both of whom relaxed substantially when they saw that Magda was sleeping peacefully on Erik's shoulder.

Alex ran over to scoop up the sleeping girl, but Lorna looked past Erik's shoulder, seemingly looking for someone else to get off the plane. But when no one else came out, her frown deepened. "Is this everyone?"

Erik frowned at that. "Are we missing anyone else?" he asked. "Rachel scanned the mind of the man in charge, and there was no one else there."

Lorna looked distressed at that. "I was hoping ... I hoped Billy went with you," she said with wide eyes.

"Maybe he headed back to the labs," Bobby suggested.

Alex shook his head. "Already been down there. Nobody but Hank and Tyler and Tommy," he said.

K had made her way to where James was snuggled into the chair, rubbing his eyes, and she simply picked him up with a little kiss on the nose before the little group started toward the stairs. "I can check upstairs … see if he went to find some privacy," she offered. "If he's here, we should be able to find him."

"Please do," Erik agreed with a steadily growing frown.

"I'll take a bamf with, let you know in a few minutes," she said with a nod as the little pack of ferals headed up to put the kids to bed — with a bamf on her shoulder making faces at James.

"We called Teddy to see if he was home," Annie told Erik as she and the others headed inside as well, pausing in the doorway, since she was headed upstairs and he was headed back to the labs in case Billy had gone back there after Alex checked. "He wasn't there, but Teddy promised to call if he came home."

Erik nodded wordlessly, his good mood from having snuggled with Magda all the way home gone in an instant — since he now had another grandchild to worry about — and he swept downstairs in a hurry.

They were just putting a tea kettle on when Logan appeared with the bamf. "No one's upstairs or on the roof," he said. "I have to see where Jubilee is ... " He turned to Rachel. "Mind doing a little more thorough search, maybe hit Cerebro?"

Rachel nodded quickly. "I'll expand the search. I'm sure he's just… gone somewhere to be alone. He was pretty upset about how badly Tommy was hurt," she muttered as she headed off to do just that. "He might not have hard Hank was able to get his heart started again for Ty to work him over."

Logan drew in a deep breath and frowned before he started off toward the medical bay. Something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it just yet. When he got to the med bay, though, where Henry was doing his best to coax Tyler into taking a break — since the kid was clearly exhausted from all the excitement with the raid and then Tommy — he had to just stop and stare at Jubilee across the room, who was doing her best to look as much a part of the scenery as possible.

"Jubes," Logan said, headed her way with a frown. "Ask. For _help_. You need it."

"I'm fine," she said.

"Lying through your _teeth. To me_?" he challenged before he called Hank over. "You're slippin', Henry."

The frazzled-looking blue doctor glanced at Logan and then at Jubilee — and his eyes widened the second he caught her scent properly. "Oh, my stars and garters," he said before he very quickly got down to work to start gathering his supplies he would need for surgery.

Logan turned to the bamf still on his shoulder. "Go get her bookend, would ya?" The tiny demon nodded seriously before he teleported off in a plume of smoke, and Logan went to her to keep her company at _least_ until Noh showed up.

When the little bamf reappeared with Noh, the Kree fighter went directly into concern when he saw the state Jubilee was in and rushed over. "Why did no one tell me this was happening?"

"Because _she_ didn't tell anyone," Logan said, giving Jubilee a look.

Jubilee returned the look in spades. "Hey," she grumbled. "I wasn't gonna step in it when they were trying to _save Tommy's life_."

"Well good news: Tyler's fuelin' up and watchin' him, and Hank is runnin' around like a chicken with his head cut off just for you," Logan teased. "Dramatic punk."

Jubilee stuck her tongue out at him for that one and then leaned back with a sigh, though she picked her head up again when she noticed Logan moving aside for Noh and halfway growled out, "Don't you go _anywhere_ , mister. You are staying _right here_."

Noh chuckled slightly. "No use telling her no," he teased Logan's way as he very gently took Jubilee's hand in his and let her crush it to her heart's content while Hank finished with the setup.

"I wouldn't dream of leavin' you here like this," Logan promised. "When you get done breakin' his hand, you can try for mine."

That wasn't entirely necessary, though. Hank got her started on the "good stuff," as she called it, and once it started to set in, she was totally relaxed within just a few minutes — though still insistent that Logan was not allowed to go anywhere. "You," she told him with one finger leveled his way, "you are meeting your granddaughters. Like. Now."

"That is the plan," Hank said from behind the drape. "Shouldn't be but another ten minutes or so if you two would like to back away so I can keep the field clear …"

Logan gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and stepped to the side. "Not goin' far. Promise."

"I'll hold you to that," she swore.

And, as Hank had promised, it was only another ten minutes before they could hear the first little cry — and then another few minutes before the second little half-Kree made her debut. Neither of them cried for long — just once, loud and clearly annoyed at being taken out of their warm environment as both of them cut Hank looks worthy of their mother.

Tyler had stepped in to help get them both cleaned up and weighed — since Hank had the tougher job of finishing the surgery. But once they were each cleaned up, he handed them both one by one to Noh. "When she gets to a normal bed, she can hold them. Angle is bad with the surgery table," he explained before he gave Jubilee a broad smile. "Just like their mother."

She gave him a little smile. "Tell me we got the white hair, though," she teased.

"Oh yeah," Tyler said with a laugh. "What little they have is white. They look like you, though."

Noh beamed down at the two little ones and gave them each a kiss on the foreheads. "Perfect," he agreed. "Absolutely beautiful." He was pretty far gone over the little girls — that much was obvious — though once they'd moved Jubilee so she could hold them, he very gently tipped one little girl into her arms and then another.

"Come over here, Wolvie," Jubilee called out, grinning widely.

"Don't you want to hold 'em yourself for a while first?" he asked, though he did as she asked.

She grinned up at him. "Mmhmm," she said. "But you need to hold one. Which one? Melody or Celeste?" she asked, tipping her head at one and then the other.

"Oh no, that's your call," he argued before he leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the head. "Nice work, kiddo."

She kept right on grinning crookedly at him. "Thanks," she said. She took a moment to look over the nearly bald little darlings before she glanced up at Logan again and nodded. "Melody it is," she said, gently rearranging herself so she could give him the one that was more awake — Celeste was drifting off peacefully, while Melody was wide-eyed and trying to take in the whole world at once.

He picked up the little one and took a seat nearby, letting the wide-eyed little girl stare at everything around them. "Little early to be handin' her off so I'll put her to sleep, isn't it?"

"Never too early for Grampa Wolvie," she teased right back.

"That reminds me," Noh said with a little smile. "Where is K?"

"With James and Elin," Logan replied. "She took them up to put them to bed."

"Ah." Noh nodded. "Well then, we'll have to wait, but she should meet these two little stars as soon as she can."

"I'm sure Kurt would watch over a couple of sleeping baby ferals so you could drag her down kicking and screaming," Jubilee offered. "But if that's how it goes, you _must_ videotape it for me."

"I'm certain our favorite reporter bamf will get it all on video," Noh chuckled, already headed for the stairs. "It's just a shame it's so late — Sying will be upset he missed his sisters' debut."

"Official debut in the morning," Jubilee said with a little wave.

Noh had to laugh at that before he zipped up the stairs and came to a stop just outside of the Howlett's room, very gently knocking before he pushed the door open the slightest bit to peer in.

K was curled up on the bed with both little ones, who had fallen asleep quickly in their parent's bed. "Everything okay?" she asked, though it was clear she hadn't been sleeping — or if she was, she wasn't sleeping well.

"Jubilee has had our twins," he whispered quietly, grinning wide.

"Congratulations, glitter pants," she said with a little smile. "Is that where my sweetheart has been hiding?"

Noh chuckled and nodded. "He's getting to know your granddaughters. I thought you might like to do the same," he offered.

"Might need someone to stay with them after the night they had," she said, sitting up.

"Jubilee has already volunteered Kurt's services, though I'm certain Scott would not say no either."

"Does Kurt know?" K said with a little laugh.

"Not just yet," Noh admitted, still smiling.

"Well, grab someone. I'll be ready in two minutes."

Noh grinned at that before he skipped off down the hall — to grab Scott first, not Kurt. It took him only a few moments to explain the situation before Scott readily agreed to babysit a couple sleeping kids, and he was already headed down the hall when Noh made his last stop to where the Wagners were all curled up in the usual cuddle pile of bamfs, elflings, Kate, and Kurt.

When he saw Noh at the door, Kurt carefully slipped out from where he had been snuggling his girls and smiled Noh's way when he saw the huge grin on the Kree fighter's face. "What's happened?" he asked.

"Only the most wonderful thing to ever happen on our anniversary," Noh told him warmly. "Come on — you must meet our little girls."

In the meantime, Scott had earned himself a kiss on the cheek from K as he came to her door and offered his babysitting services for a little while. "You're an angel," she told him before she gestured to the two passed out little ferals. "I probably won't be too long."

"Don't worry about it," Scott assured her. "Take as long as you need; I don't mind."

She stepped out into the hall where Kurt and Noh were just leaving Kurt's room too. "Alright boys," she said softly. "I guess it's time to meet two little shooting stars."

With that, Noh proudly led the way down to the labs, where Jubilee was curled up with the sleeping Celeste — wearing a pink hat — and Logan had Melody — with her yellow hat.

"Non-accidental color choices I see," K said quietly before she gave Jubilee a kiss on the forehead. "Typical. Race to the finish line."

"They just wanted to make sure _something_ good happened on my anniversary," she teased, raising an eyebrow Noh's way before she very gently tipped Celeste into K's arms. "Say hello to Grammy K," she told the little one.

K carefully picked the little one up so as not to wake her before she sat on the edge of Jubilee's bed and smiled at both of them. "Oh yeah, they got all the looks. Sorry, Sparkle Pants."

"No need to apologize; I happen to agree with you entirely," Noh said with a proud sort of smile as Kurt peered over Logan's shoulder at Melody.

"And it's a good thing their dad brought you both here, seeing as you're godparents," Jubilee pointed out, just to see the looks on K and Kurt's faces.

K just looked her way with raised eyebrows for a moment and couldn't help but tease. "Oh, well, Kurt's everyone's godfather. I set it up so he's my godfather too. Just in case."

Kurt chuckled her way but grinned at Jubes. "They're perfect, Jubilee," he told her, looking very proud.

"Logan has little Melody," Noh explained to the two newcomers. "And this is Celeste," he added to K, smiling brighter and brighter the more he looked at the little girls.

"Perfectly suitable names," K said as she reached over to take Jubilee's hand and give her a squeeze. Jubilee grinned up at her and snuggled in, content to watch her favorite people and her little girls for a while before she started to drift off — which everyone else took as a cue to head out.


	8. Defend Your Family

Erik was waiting for word from Rachel, who was working with Cerebro to try and find where Billy had disappeared to. He was seated beside his other grandson, his hands clasped underneath his chin as the very gentle whirr and click of the machines next to him told him that the equipment was doing its job to keep Tommy Shepherd alive.

It was, he knew, a miracle that Tommy was still breathing. He had flatlined, and according to Henry, the young man had been without a heartbeat for a few minutes as he and Tyler had scrambled to get him back. He _had_ died — but they'd brought him back.

It was, Erik reflected, the worst kind of timing. To lose one grandson and save him — and then lose the other.

Erik was sitting far from the excitement, keeping a careful vigil over Tommy, since the young man wasn't yet out of the woods. Tyler and Henry both were wary of trying to do any further healing after all the stress they'd put the young man's body through — at least for the moment. But Erik could still hear Hank working with Jubilee, and he could hear the moment that first cry sounded — and then the second.

Despite everything, Erik found himself smiling at the sound. For everything that had happened, there was still hope in the future.

Still, the sound brought back the memories of a few short years ago when he had been present for Magda's birth. It was, he reflected, the only time he had actually been _around_ for a grandchild's arrival. He remembered then how perfect little Magda was — and then remembered the terrified little girl that he had only just an hour ago rescued from Weapon X's clutches.

All of three years old, and Weapon X thought it was acceptable to take her from her parents, lock her up in a cell… Erik felt his temper rising at just the memory of it.

He had absolutely destroyed the facility, the soldiers, and the equipment where they had been holding the children and the X-Men who had been captured as well — and already, he thought that he should not have stopped there. The whole program needed to be eradicated, wiped from the face of the earth. One facility, no matter how large, was not sufficient.

Without realizing it, Erik had risen to his feet and began to pace beside Tommy's bed, fury flashing in his gaze. These people had been allowed to operate for far too long, and as soon as Rachel returned with a location for Billy, he would tear apart whoever had come for his grandson — and then keep going, as he should have done before.

He was done playing defensively.

"Don't let my dad see you like that — or he'll have a heart attack," Rachel's voice rang out from the doorway, and Erik spun to see her leaned against the frame, watching him with her lips pressed together.

Erik paused in his pacing and glanced up at Rachel. "Have you found William?" he asked, ignoring the light jab entirely.

The expression on Rachel's face answered the question for him before she even opened her mouth to let out a long sigh. "I can't find him," she admitted. "I'll keep trying, but…"

Erik frowned her way at that answer before he simply nodded, once, and left the room, with Rachel watching him with a look that was just like her father. It took her just a second before she decided to follow him, though she didn't get far before Lorna met her.

"Don't stop him."

Rachel stopped when she heard it and turned to face the green-haired woman with one eyebrow raised, though she couldn't stop the smirk as she said, "I thought I was the mind-reader here."

Lorna almost laughed as she lightly shook her head. "No, I just… I could feel it," she said simply, and when Rachel looked even _more_ like her father at that explanation, she let out her breath. "I've spent enough time around my father when he was angry to know what that feels like."

"But you don't want me to stop him?" Rachel shook her head. "Lorna, he's been great to have around lately. Really, the kids love him, but—"

"But he has threatened the entire planet before."

"Yeah."

"And you want to stand in his way when he want to tear apart not the entire world but one horrible institution that has plagued mutants for decades?" Now, it was Lorna's turn to raise an eyebrow in a look that was reminiscent of her father.

"We already tore apart—"

"Rachel, they took _my daughter_ ," Lorna said, in such a tone that Rachel almost took a step back. She turned Rachel's way and seemed to make an actual effort to soften her expression. "You were there, I know. You saw. But please, don't tell me it's enough to tear down one single base of theirs when they took my daughter from me, locked her up, and likely planned to turn her into a mindless drone the way they did with Logan and K."

"The problem isn't just that…" Rachel let out her breath. "He's going to get himself killed if he goes out there alone."

"He won't be," Lorna said.

Rachel stopped to stare at Lorna before she broke into a disbelieving laugh. "You know, most people can't surprise me anymore."

Lorna smiled slightly. "I've been dealing with a Summers for a very long time now," she said before she reached over and put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I'm taking Alex. He won't let me anywhere near gunfire. But I think I have a right to be angry, and Weapon X hasn't seen anything like my family when we're angry."

"Regular Hulks," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Was that a crack at my size, Rachel?" Lorna asked.

"No way," Rachel said, holding up both hands. "I know better than that."

"I'd hope so." Lorna smirked for a moment before she paused. "Would you look out for Magda while we're gone? She does love Scott and Annie, but she seems to adore you."

"Yeah," Rachel said, nodding softly. "I can do that."

"And if you wouldn't mind, please _don't_ tell your father where we're going," Lorna said.

"If I did, he'd be right after you."

"Which is why I'm asking you not to." Lorna turned to leave. "If we find Billy, I'll bring him home. But Rachel… if they've killed my nephew…." Her eyes flashed. "...there won't be a scrap left to prove that Weapon X ever even existed."

Rachel considered this for a long moment, her head tipped to the side, before she nodded once and put a hand on Lorna's shoulder. "Do you mind if I tag along?"

Lorna blinked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Well, it'll probably be easier if you have someone on your team who can tear Billy's location from people's heads so you don't have to pause in your pure destruction if he's note there," Rachel pointed out. "And if I can find him, I can direct you."

Lorna considered the offer for a long time. "This isn't just because I'm pregnant, is it?"

"Lorna," Rachel said with one eyebrow raised, "I'm _not_ my dad. And in case you didn't notice, those guys grabbed me too." She stretched out her hands in front of her to crack her knuckles. "I kind of have a bone to pick with them."

* * *

For the adults, things were still rather hectic. Everyone was trying to recover from the raid as well as everything else that had happened. But as for the kids in the mansion, things were mostly back to normal, even if both Chance and Magda seemed a little quieter than usual.

As was quickly becoming the case whenever anything bad happened, a bunch of them had gathered in one place for a giant snuggle pile and sleepover, and since his parents were occupied, Sying wound up with the Wagners, getting snuggles from both of his favorite elflings. And since Kurt had been there to meet Sying's new little sisters, when the little guy woke up properly, he offered to take him down to see them — and of course, Kari and Krissy _had_ to come with him.

Krissy was even holding Sying's hand as he was practically bouncing with excitement, little giggles bubbling out past his lips that he just wasn't able to keep to himself as Kate helped all three of them get dressed. When finally both Kate and Kurt had deemed them ready for the day, all three little ones disappeared with Kurt, only to reappear moments later in Hank's lab.

"Hello, sweetheart," Jubilee called out to Sying as the little boy turned suddenly _very_ shy, his eyes wide as he looked at his parents, each of whom had a little one in their arms. "Do you want to meet your sisters?"

"Can I?" Sying asked shyly, which had all the adults in the room smiling at each other.

Noh readjusted the way he was holding Celeste so that he could sweep Sying up with his other hand and hold the little boy up to look down at the sleeping little girl. "This is Celeste," he explained gently.

Sying looked almost reverent, pressing the gentlest kiss to Celeste's head that anyone had ever seen. "I love her," he said.

Noh beamed at him and kissed the top of his head. "And they'll love you, of course," he promised the little boy, who giggled and nodded.

"Uh-huh." Sying gently reached out with just one finger and brushed back the wispy white hair from Celeste's face. She scrunched up her nose for a moment before she settled out again, and Sying gasped slightly, turning to Noh. "Did I bother her?" he asked, alarmed.

"No, sweet boy," Jubilee said, sitting up a little better so that she could see her two favorite men.

"Sying, your baby sisters have white hair just like Amadi," Krissy reported as she looked over the side of the bed to see Melody.

"I knew they would," he said happily, drawing himself up to his full height as Noh chuckled quietly. "My sisters are _so pretty_."

"Just like their mother," Noh agreed.

"How come they look the same?" Krissy asked Jubilee, her tail swishing lazily behind her. "How you gonna tell them apart like me and Kari or Chance and Charlie?"

"I'm sure they'll act differently and be their own people," Jubilee explained to the wide-eyed little elfling.

"O-kay," Krissy said, looking a little dubious but nodding all the same.

"Can we play?" Kari asked shyly as she peeked around her big sister at the little ones.

"They're too _little_ ," Krissy explained, shaking her head.

Kari seemed to think about this for a moment and then shrugged and grabbed her sister by the hand. "Okay. Let's play, Krissy," she declared, trying to pull her away from the half-Kree cuteness that she was officially done with.

Krissy hesitated for a second and then looked toward Sying. "Merry Christmas present, Sying!" she called out to him, giggling, and Sying grinned at her before the two little elflings disappeared — along with half the bamfs — to go play.

* * *

Most of the kids in the mansion were gathered up with the Howlett clan watching _Fractured Fairytales,_ nibbling on popcorn, and snuggling in with their best friends and favorite stabby adults.

Chance had climbed directly into Logan's lap with a Chance-sized bowl of popcorn and was watching the swashbuckling heroes with his head tipped to the side until he tipped himself halfway backwards to look at Logan upside down. "Is it hard to learn how to be a hero?" he asked very suddenly and completely sincerely.

Logan frowned for just a moment and then shook his head. "I'm not sure that it's hard," he replied. "As long as you do what's right and help people."

"Do you think I could learn how to do it?" he asked, still upside down and wide-eyed.

"Considerin who your family is, I think you'd be really good at it," Logan replied.

"Can I learn how to do it _now_?" he asked.

"What is it you think you need to learn how to do, kiddo?" Logan asked, unsure what the little guy was onto.

Chance rearranged himself a little as he thought about it, eyes narrowed and a dramatically thoughtful look on his face. "I wanna learn how to protect people and maybe how to hit bad guys," he decided. "Like ... like bad guys who made Magda cry."

"Okay," Logan said slowly. "But you're a little small to hit grown-up bad guys yet."

"I am _not_ ," Chance said with his chin thrust out. "I'm the biggest! Except when Gerry comes over," he amended quickly.

"You're still small against a grown-up," Logan pointed out.

"Bobby says you are too, but _you_ do stuff all the time," Chance shot back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm just a tiny bit taller," Logan said with a smirk. But when Chance kept right on holding Logan's gaze, he let out a breath. "Do you want to learn karate?"

"Is that gonna help me fight bad guys?"

"It's a start," Logan said. "But it's for more than just fightin'. It's good for self control -—so you know when you should fight and when you shouldn't. And …" He leaned closer to the little guy. "... _you'll have to learn a little Japanese._ "

"That's okay. I know some Kree and some German and lots of other things. I can learn that stuff easy," Chance said confidently, though by that time, a few of the other older kids had started to peek into the conversation curiously.

"Mostly it's just countin'," Logan admitted.

"I know numbers," Sying offered with a big grin. "And my dad knows how to teach control. We work hard. Can I play too?"

"We're not talkin' about playin, kiddo," Logan said with a little smirk.

"I'm gonna learn how to fight bad guys," Chance told him seriously. "And sometimes how to not, which doesn't _really_ make sense, but Logan says so."

"You'll have to ask your folks," Logan said. He turned back to Chance, sure to look the little boy in the eyes so he knew he was serious. "And if I teach you, you can't use it on the other kids."

"No," Chance agreed quickly. "No, only for bad guys."

"How old are you now?" Logan asked. " _Go_?"

Chance tipped his head to the side. "No, I'm _five_." He illustrated his point by holding up one hand.

" _Go_ is Japanese for five," Logan said.

"Oh." Chance nodded seriously. "Okay. Yes, I am _go_ years old."

Logan nodded seriously. "Talk to your dad," he said. "If he's okay with you learning karate, I'll teach you."

Chance nodded at that and then threw his arms around Logan's neck in a quick hug. "Thank you lots, Logan," he said, still wide-eyed and sincere.

"Anytime, kiddo," Logan replied, giving him a quick squeeze in return.

With that, Chance hopped down off of the couch and tore through the house in search of his dad, on a _mission_ now that he'd gotten the okay from Logan.

"Where's Chance going?" Krissy asked.

"Lookin' for his dad," Logan replied. "He'll be back before you know it."

"Okay." Krissy giggled. "He's gonna miss my favorite part. Silly Chance."

"Pretty sure everyone will be mostly asleep when he gets back," K said. "You can replay it for him."

"Good, because it's my favorite part," Krissy repeated, seemingly content with that answer as she handed a handful of popcorn to her favorite bamf.

* * *

In the meantime, Scott had been trying his best to minimize damage when it came to the four rogue members of his team out on a world tour of trying to destroy Weapon X as if it could just be done in a weekend.

Still... the way they were going, Scott almost wouldn't be surprised if it could, especially with the heavy damage reports he was getting _after the fact_. (Never before. He'd _asked_ Rachel to give him a heads up, but…) He let out a long breath and rubbed a spot over his eyes as he got the latest reports and started immediately pulling up contacts in the area — official and otherwise — that he could notify before they started calling it a terrorist strike. Which they probably still would anyway, all things considered.

He was so wrapped up in what he was working on that he didn't notice Chance slip into the room until the little guy was standing by him and had grabbed one of his hands to hold and grin up at him with a wide-eyed, expectant sort of look.

And when your kid was looking at you like that, there was really nothing for it, so Scott paused and put aside the phone to pick Chance up and pull him into his lap. "Hey, Chance. What's going on?" he asked.

"So-o-o-o," Chance said, twisting a little bit and bobbing his head. "So, I was talking to Logan, and he said there's this thing called karate, and I wanna learn karate, Dad. Can I, please?" He was grinning full-force with his eyes as wide as he could get them. "Please oh please?"

Scott was taken aback; he had no idea where _that_ had come from. "Why do you want to learn karate?" he asked.

"Well, I _want_ to learn how to be a hero like you and like all the X-Men, and Logan said karate was good for that, so can I _pretty please_?" Chance asked, getting up so that he was inches away from Scott.

Scott stared at the determined little boy as he tried to work out an answer to that. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it was probably a good idea for the kids to learn at least _something_ for how often they were getting pulled into the X-Men's problems — despite their best efforts. But at the same time, Chance was just… so young.

"What did Logan say?" he asked at last.

"He said if you said yes, he would teach me how to fight and also how not to as long as I promised not to use karate on any of the kids, which — _obviously_." Chance looked offended at the thought, in a look that was so much like Annie getting upset at the bamfs that Scott almost laughed.

"And you really want to learn karate?"

"Really, really."

Scott sighed. "Alright," he said at last, and that was as far as he got before Chance threw himself into a huge hug that nearly knocked Scott backward in his chair. "I'd like to come too," he added when Chance finally let go.

"Okay," Chance said, nodding quickly.

"And if Charlie wants to learn karate too, you have to share."

"Okay," Chance said, just as quickly. "But Charlie doesn't like hitting."

Scott smirked. "Then maybe you won't have to share."

"Okay." Chance beamed up at him and then threw himself into another hug before he wriggled down to the floor. "Thanks, Dad!" he called over his shoulder as he rushed out of the room just as fast as he could, probably in search of Logan.

Scott stared after his little boy for a long while before, finally, he scrubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. And _tried_ to get his focus back to get to work.


	9. Wiccan's Return

he latest Weapon X stronghold was hidden away in the old remnants of Donald Pierce's Reavers compound in the Australian outback, and the four-person team was getting more frustrated as they went.

That wasn't to say that they weren't _doing_ things. They were going through compounds like they were paper — crumpling metal, blasting through walls, leaving psychic fire in their wake. It was an impressive, nearly surgical strike on the people who had defiled their home and kidnapped several members of the team... but that still hadn't addressed their last missing team member.

Though it was definitely helping Lorna and Rachel to work off some of their anger over the whole thing, even if Erik just seemed to be getting angrier. After all, that many compounds meant that much more to see, that much more equipment, and that many more cells, even empty ones. And with this particular compound ... that many more Sentinels.

"Oh. Great," Rachel muttered when she saw the first of the Sentinels that Weapon X had repurposed from the old Pierce compound. For the moment, it was just her and Erik — since Alex hung back with Lorna until the two of them had cleared any possible dampeners so Lorna could go through with a solid shield and not risk anything. That was the deal to let her come along.

This plan, of course, also freed up Rachel and Erik to simply let loose — and to an outside observer, it would have been hard to tell who was the one to watch between them. Rachel's attacks all burned, but Magneto was in full force, crumpling entire wings once Rachel had determined no mutants were there. They were trying to be a bit more careful after Scott had called them last time to tell them that they'd found a couple 'projects' that had been psychically shielded.

Scott wasn't happy with either of them, but Rachel had told him to hold off on the yelling until they at least got Billy back. She wasn't expecting him to keep his tongue, of course, but they _had_ been getting along better, and she sort of had to hope he'd at least cut her _some_ slack.

So when her comm went off in the middle of tearing apart a pair of Sentinels alongside Erik, she ignored it.

It went off again as they were going through the base room by room, destroying everything in their path, and she ignored it again.

It went off again as Erik brought down the entire infrastructure that supported the Sentinels' creation and maintenance, and she finally let out a breath. Erik clearly had this anyway.

" _What_?"

But it wasn't Scott on the other side telling them they were causing international incidents. It was Storm, who got straight to the point: "We found Billy."

Rachel stopped and glanced toward Erik as he finished what he was doing, floating high above the ground as he'd done since they left. "Where?"

"Teddy found him on the lawn."

"Is he alright?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, but Henry says he seems to be just fine."

All of Rachel's breath came out at once. "Thanks. I'll… let everyone know," she said, pocketing the comm. She waited until after Erik had finished what he was doing before she called out to him, though. "They found Billy."

"Where was he?" Erik asked with a relieved look in his eyes, though the fury was only partly reined back.

"On the mansion lawn, apparently," Rachel said. She shook her head. "I'm sure there's a story there."

"And Scott wants us to … pause our progress?"

"I'm sure he does, but that was Storm," Rachel said with half a smirk. "She just wanted to let us know." She looked around the half-destroyed base. "I mean, _I_ still have a half dozen of these in me…"

"Is he alive?"

"Hank gave him a clean bill of health... except ... apparently, he's still unconscious," Rachel admitted. She paused as she watched Erik take in a breath and seem to relax a little more. "Apparently, he just showed up on the east lawn."

"We may not get this opportunity again," Erik said darkly.

"I know," Rachel said. "They're going deeper into hiding; it's in all of their minds." She watched Erik carefully. "If you want to keep going, we can send Lorna and Alex back. I think Lorna would like to see Magda and check on Billy and Tommy. But I'll stay with you."

"Send them," he said with a nod. "We set out to finish this. I for one will not stop until it is done."

Rachel nodded in response and then paused as she quickly sent out the psychic message to Lorna and Alex to let them know what was happening. _Take her home. Go take care of your nephews and your baby girl._

 _You gonna be okay?_ Alex asked.

 _Worry about the people in our way,_ she replied before she turned Erik's way. "We need to find someone higher up so I can pull another location from their minds," she said. "So far, the only men we've found have known next to nothing."

Erik nodded, and the two of them advanced on a more central location that Rachel had gotten from one of the head guards, leaving Alex and Lorna to return to Westchester alone.

* * *

Teddy had been staying at the mansion ever since Billy went missing, and there was no shortage of people looking out for him. America, for one, was pacing almost as much as he was, and Annie was making sure he slept and ate.

But there were some times that he just wanted to get away from everyone else so he didn't have to put up with the looks of pity and "understanding." He knew that people didn't mean them, and he'd had to endure the same thing when the adoption fell through, but sometimes, he just wanted to leave.

So he hit the east lawn, skirting around what looked like an intense game of advanced tag between Leslie Ann and Jana, with Leslie Ann trying to snare Jana with grass or trees and Jana doing her best to keep moving and out of her reach. He also slipped past the Wagner girls as they tore across the lawn screaming with delight playing in the sprinklers with the bamfs.

He thought he'd finally found a good quiet spot almost to the treeline when he noticed something red further out. It wasn't a naturally-occurring kind of color, so he went a little further out... until he realized it was a cape... and then he picked up his pace.

By the time he got to where Billy was laid out in the middle of the lawn, his heart was in his throat as he dropped down beside his husband … and then let out all his breath in pure relief when he saw that Billy was at least breathing.

He looked fine, if incredibly dirty, with tears in his cape and clothes and… was that sand? In his hair?

Teddy was sure there was a story there, but he didn't _care_. Not right then. He just scooped Billy up and held him to his chest for a long moment, crying in relief.

When he finally got his emotional feet back underneath him, he pulled Billy up and rushed back toward the mansion — and got his voice back somewhere around the doorway as he called out, "I found him!"

He was still not close enough for anyone to catch it except for those who were already outside, but it did catch the attention of the two girls outside playing. Both of them rushed his way, and when they saw what was happening, Jana reversed course almost immediately to run inside and alert everyone else inside the mansion, while Leslie Ann, hand over her mouth, ran the last few yards to catch up to Teddy.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," Teddy said hoarsely. "He just showed up."

Leslie Ann stared at him for a moment before she, too, took off running — so that by the time Teddy got to the entryway with Billy in his arms, Storm was there holding the door open for him and looking both relieved and concerned, somehow at the same time.

"Henry will be glad to see him," Storm said.

" _I'm_ glad to see him," Teddy said, holding Billy that much closer. He could already see and hear other people in the mansion headed their way to see what was going on, but he wasn't really interested in sharing at the moment.

Storm had a hand on his shoulder all the way down to where Hank was waiting for them, and though Teddy didn't realize it at the time, she was also giving an imperious look to anyone who looked like they might try to approach Billy and Teddy, giving them the much-needed space they were after without a word spoken.

She got the two young men all the way to the lab before she left them to their privacy — though she didn't go far, taking a seat on the far end of the lab so she could help where needed and bat away interested parties until Teddy stopped looking like he might fall apart at the slightest provocation.

All of which Teddy was grateful for. He felt more tired than he ever had — especially when Hank came back with a clean bill of health for Billy, except, of course, for the fact that he was unconscious. Hank was gracious enough to ignore Teddy as he rested his head on the edge of Billy's bed and just let go in pure relief — and he waited until Teddy was with it enough to really understand what was going on before he gave him the rundown: Billy was fine, just completely exhausted, running on fumes.

"It's a wonder he was able to get here at all," Hank said, frowning at the unconscious Wiccan over the top of his glasses.

"But he's alright, isn't he?" Teddy asked, half holding his breath. "I mean, he will be ... but he's alright?"

"As far as I can see, he'll be just fine," Hank assured him. "And I'm sure once he rejoins us, he'll be able to tell us more."

Teddy nodded at that and reached over to grab Billy's hand. He wasn't going anywhere until that happened.

* * *

Billy woke up slowly, not for any real reason other than the fact that sleeping was just so much nicer than anything else he could have been doing — right up until he remembered that he'd been _trying_ to get back to his own timeline and his own dimension, and then he woke up all at once, sitting bolt upright and looking around what _looked_ like a familiar lab. Teddy was asleep next to him… Tommy was asleep in a bed nearby….

_Wait. Tommy?_

Billy pulled his legs out from underneath the covers and had every intention of going to his brother, but Hank got there first before he could unhook his IV — when did he get an IV?

"Please relax," Hank said, frowning slightly at Billy as he rested one hand on Billy's shoulder. "You've been through a lot, I'm sure."

"You don't know the half of it," Billy said, shaking his head, though he let Hank push him back. "This… this is going to be a weird question, but… everyone's still here, right? We didn't lose any Hawkeyes, and there's still three Summers kids, and….?"

"It's my understanding that only your grandfather and Rachel are still out decimating Weapon X. Everyone else has been accounted for," Hank replied. "Have you been dimension jumping?" He turned Billy's head slightly with a frown. "What happened to your eyes?"

Billy bit his lip. "It's … it's a really long story. I think it's permanent, though. Does it look that bad?"

Hank tipped his head toward him and raised one eyebrow. "Do you think I have any room to judge on appearances?"

Billy laughed quietly. "Well, at least tell me the silver looks good. I kind of like it," he said, brushing back his hair.

"Dashing, of course," Hank replied with a warm smile. "Can you see properly?"

Billy nodded. "Yeah, I can… I mean, I have to focus not to see too much at once, but I can see you and Teddy and — okay, I have to ask about Tommy? Because in the dimension I left, he was dead, but I'm still working on separating dimensions I'm _in_ and dimensions I'm _seeing_ , so…"

"Tommy is here," Hank said. "He's not as spry as he usually is, but he's here."

Billy nodded at that and closed his eyes as he tried to get his bearings, though it was harder to see with his eyes closed when that just seemed to open the gates to a whole host of dimensional possibilities and timelines…. "This is going to take some getting used to," he grumbled, rubbing his forehead before he glanced up again. "When did you … I mean, did Tyler get Tommy back or… it can't have been that long ago, since I just left right after the raid. I think."

"While we did lose a rhythm for a moment, we never _lost him_."

Billy let out all his breath. "That… almost doesn't make me feel any better," he admitted. "I mean, no. That sounds horrible." He held up both hands. "I'm really, _really_ glad he's okay and that he didn't die. I just… the whole thing started when I was trying to find a way to save him."

Hank patted his arm. "My dear boy, I do believe that overly emotional reactions run in the family." He leaned toward him for a moment just before he stood up. "You get it from your mother's side."

"Yeah, you should have seen Erik where I…" Billy trailed off as something seemed to be tugging at the edge of his vision. It felt weird, like someone was trying to wave at him to get his attention and he couldn't quite focus on it. "Hang on… where did you say Erik was, again?"

"Levelling every Weapon X installation he can find," Hank said.

That answer seemed to click the final pieces into place for Billy, and he could finally see what it was just beyond his vision. In the span of a second, he was gasping as a whole timeline's worth of possibilities flashed in front of him, and he didn't realize he was getting up again until he'd started. "Oh, no. No, he can't do that," Billy said, the galaxies in his eyes a little brighter while he was focused on something no one else could see. "We have to stop him."

"I'm not sure how we can do that," Hank said honestly. "He and Rachel …"

"No," Billy said again. "No, we have to stop them." He got to his feet, in a manner of speaking, though they weren't touching the ground.

"You should rest," Hank said, stepping back in spite of his words. After all, a floating member of the Maximoff family was never a good thing. "Nothing good has ever come from being hasty in a time like this."

"You don't understand; I can _see_ where this is going." Billy gestured to his eyes as the IV simply disappeared, though he hadn't consciously cast a spell to get rid of it. "We have to stop them or they're going to end up sparking another war." He paused and glanced at Teddy, who was starting to stir, but before Teddy could wake up all the way, he seemed to make up his mind on the matter. With a quickly muttered Asgardian word, he disappeared in a blink of light.

Teddy picked his head up and narrowed his eyes at the empty bed before he glanced to a fairly befuddled Hank. "Where's…?" he asked, trying to wake up faster.

"I'm not entirely sure," Hank replied. "He just ... disappeared in a flash of light."

"Again?" Teddy asked, looking distressed. "We just got him back!"

"I _think_ he went after Erik."

"Erik? Why?" Teddy climbed to his feet, clearly ready to go after Billy as well.

"He said he could see where it was going," Hank said. "But he didn't explain."

"Well, he's got to have a good reason," Teddy reasoned. "He's Billy."

"Yes, well, all things considered, perhaps it's time we spoke with Cyclops about this."

Teddy let his shoulders slump. "Yeah, alright." He paused. "Was he okay? I mean, did you get to talk to him? Find out what happened? Is he alright?"

"He didn't say much, but he seemed fine, more or less. He was worn out." Hank paused.  
And his … eyes had changed."

Teddy tried to crack a joking smile. "Well dang. That's my favorite part of him."

"Then I hope you like stargazing," Hank said with a pointed look.

Teddy paused. "...Really?"

"Really." Hank frowned. "Does that mean something to you?"

"It… might," Teddy admitted. "The first time we found out about Billy's Demiurge powers, we found his literal face in the stars. It seems like his powers sort of… like the vastness of space, I guess? It's hard to explain if you haven't experienced it." He looked around the room. "But we'd know if he had gone full Demiurge, right? It would have been pretty explosive. He did it once, just a little bit when we were teenagers…"

Hank looked thoughtful for a moment and then took a seat on the bed that Billy had vacated. "He asked if everyone was here. Apparently, there was some concern that we'd lost many of our number."

"Well... Tommy," Teddy said.

"But also the Summers — or some of them — and Kate … among others."

Teddy frowned, trying to sort it all out. "You're right," he said at last. "I think we should definitely talk to Cyclops."

Hank looked across the med bay to where Noh and Jubilee were resting — the new twin girls sleeping quietly. "Off we go then," Hank said. "Before something else happens that we can't explain."

* * *

It took a couple tries, because Billy was still getting used to this new power that let him see everything at once, and it was hard to pinpoint _specifics_ , but he finally managed to transport himself to the base that Erik and Rachel were headed for. Not the ones they'd already hit — or the ones that they'd hit next. That was the hard part: nailing it down when apparently his vision didn't quite work in the present all the time.

But he did it, and the Erik and Rachel in front of him didn't shimmer at the edges — which meant they must have been solid and in the present and real time — so he called out to both of them. " _Stop!_ " he shouted, flinging both hands forward with the force of a spell that was powerful enough to stop them in their tracks.

In an instant, he had floated over to the two of them, and he waved a hand to release them from the frozen spell so they could talk, though his heart was in his throat thinking of how close they were to the base behind them. _Another few minutes…_ "You _can't_ go barging in there."

Rachel frowned at him. "What do you know?" she asked with a tone of suspicion.

"I know if you go in there now, it doesn't end with Weapon X wiped off the map," he said, rising a little higher in the air as he said it. "It ends up with a dead diplomat, a dozen _kids_ killed in the line of fire, and a war on mutants that only fuels the Weapon X program back from the ashes you're leaving it in."

"How do you know this?"

Billy scrubbed a hand over his face. "It's a long story. And I'd be happy to tell you the whole thing, but right now, just… please trust me on this. I can see what happens, and …" He gestured around the place. "I can already see the devastation and the bodies and the investigation and the outcry and it hasn't even happened yet."

Rachel concentrated, and it didn't take much to see what Billy was projecting. "Then let's go before it gets worse," she agreed as she rested one hand on Erik's arm. "He's not wrong. I don't think."

"There's still kids in there," Billy said softly. "But you can't charge in… and you _can't be seen_ by the American diplomat in there."

"I can cover us," Rachel offered. "But why is there a diplomat in a place like this?"

"Oh, that'll come out later," Billy said, waving his hand. "He's getting arrested in a few days anyway for espionage."

"Rachel," Erik said, "can you find where they are, the little ones?" His anger was simmering right at the surface, and it was incredibly easy to see.

"Of course," Rachel replied. "But we should be quick."

"And _quiet_ ," Billy said again, looking entirely serious.

"No one will hear us," Rachel said. "I'll make sure it's more than hard to focus on us. I'll just alter the way their minds process us. You could shout and they won't know."

"Then …" Billy paused, looking around the place and trying to see where this path would lead. He wasn't positive, but it seemed safe… "Okay. But if I tell you we need to leave, I mean it."

Rachel looked up at Erik, who frowned but finally nodded. "I expect a full explanation," Erik said.

"And you'll get it," Billy promised, falling into step with the two of them and shaking his head a bit at the overload of input he was still trying to process. "I still don't understand a lot of it myself, but what I do get is yours."

The three of them made their way much more stealthily into the base — not the door-busting, gung-ho approach that Rachel and Erik had been using until that point but a nearly silent, slow approach. Rachel led the way, feeling her way toward where she could sense the youngest minds, though it was clear once they arrived that Erik's temper was in danger of boiling over when he saw the dozen or so children, the youngest of which were a pair of dark-haired twins barely past walking age.

"Most of them know who they are," Rachel said quietly. "The technicians have files on where they came from. But those two ... " She paused and shook her head. "I think … they were born here."

Billy glanced toward Erik and put a hand on his shoulder. "I can carry one of them if you take the other," he said. "We can carry a lot of them by powers, but I saw this somewhere else... " He paused. "Probably better if they had human contact."

"You saw this ... " Erik looked furious. "Where did you see this?"

"A different dimension," Billy said quickly. "Not… not here."

Erik leveled a more serious look at his grandson. "All of it," he said. "I want to know."

"As soon as we get them out," Billy swore, bending down to scoop up the little dark-haired girl, who watched him carefully with her head tipped to the side. He very gently pressed her into Erik's hands without waiting for Erik to actually find a twin, and he scooped up the little boy just after that as he glanced around the room and held his breath. "We need to get out of here before we get caught," he said.

"We won't get caught," Rachel said, her eyes glowing slightly with the larger group she was hiding.

Billy frowned her way. "Just… alright, just follow me," he said, already headed down the hallway. "If you can't hold it, tell me, and I _think_ I can get us the rest of the way out."

"I can hold it," she said. "I've been getting a lot better."

"Good, because I'm wiped out," Billy said with a little noise of relief as the whole group of them rushed through the facility, a small army of children in their wake.

* * *

It had taken a lot of work and finagling to get the children who had a place to go to where they were supposed to be, and Billy simply hadn't been up to it, so he waited with the two smallest twins in the jet that Erik and Rachel had commandeered at some point in all their rampaging — which was actually a big help to the rampaging, since it was Weapon X designated, and the program wouldn't immediately shoot them out of the sky.

He had fallen asleep — and so had both of the little ones — before Erik and Rachel returned, though he did startle awake on their arrival, since he hadn't actually _meant_ to fall asleep.

These new powers were really taking it out of him. He was going to have to figure out how not to let them run him dry like this.

When Rachel returned, she took one look at Billy and brought him a couple of candy bars from the cabinet in the jet. "We keep these for Jubilee, but you look like you need the help."

"Thanks," he said with a half-smile. "I guess I'm still a little wiped out." He unwrapped one of the candy bars, looking properly sheepish."

"I'll save you from repeating yourself and just wait until we get back to ask what happened to you."

"I appreciate that, honestly," he said, leaning a little further back. "It's… not something I want to repeat. Ever. Though I'm pretty sure it was a one-time crazy train."

"Why don't you nap on the way back?" Rachel suggested. "I'm as much of a speed demon as my father is. We'll be back before you know it."

At the suggestion, Billy was already nodding, leaning over in his seat. "Just wake me up when we get there. I haven't seen my husband in a few days, and I'm sure he's mad I ran out as soon as I got back," he muttered as he made himself more comfortable.

"I'm sure he'll just be happy to see you safe and sound," Rachel pointed out as she started flipping switches on both sides of the cockpit and the engines fired up.

As Rachel had promised, they got to the mansion in practically no time, and none of the occupants of the plane were surprised to find that they had a small group already waiting for them: Scott, Storm, and Hank, as well as Teddy, though Teddy seemed to stand apart from the more anxious-looking adults and just wanted to see Billy again.

When the two of them spotted each other, there wasn't the full running embrace it was clear Teddy was headed for, though, since Billy was carrying one of the sleeping little ones — Erik had the other. So instead, Teddy hugged him as best he could and then just started to shake his head. "What is going _on_?"

"All things considered," Rachel said tiredly, "I think we better wait for him to explain rather than patching our own ideas together."

Billy nodded and then looked toward Scott. "Alright… is it okay if I find a place to put these two in our room first?" he asked, motioning to the two dark-haired babies. "I can magic a crib and everything, but I think they'd be more comfortable _not_ spending the night in a briefing?"

The look on Scott's face made it clear he just didn't even know where to start with the three of them, but he had to nod at Billy's request. "And then the War Room, I think," he said in the same kind of tired tone Rachel had used before.

"Great, thanks," Billy said, kissing Teddy quickly before he disappeared in a flash of light with Erik and the twins to call up a pair of cribs from thin air and gently set them down.

They were down in the War Room before the others, too, because of the instant travel, and Billy sank down into the nearest seat and pulled one out for his grandfather with one foot. "Thanks," he said, leaning forward to rub his temples and very nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw that they weren't, in fact, the only ones in the room.

Strange was there sitting across from them.

"You didn't think that I would miss ... _that_ , did you?" Dr. Strange asked with a more severe expression than he usually wore.

Billy swallowed and looked properly abashed. "Ah… not really, but I kinda hoped…" he admitted. Then, trying for a little teasing smile, he added, "But the hair's nice, right? I wasn't trying to steal your look, but I think I'll keep it."

"It's not my _look_ that I'm concerned with," Strange replied in a sigh. "It's that you're not ready."

"It's a little bit late for 'not ready'," Billy admitted, looking up as the rest of the X-Men arrived at last. "It's not like I can take it back."

"I think you better just tell us what happened," Scott said. "And how."

Billy took in a deep breath. "Right, well... I've been trying to figure out where to start," he admitted. "I guess… a few years back, my team and I were dimension hopping in Noh's ship and then with America and Loki, and I sort of accidentally discovered that sometime in the future, I was supposed to become … well. This." He gestured at his changed face. "Dimensional … god, sort of kind of. For like, five minutes. Now I just have the residual power after I sort of poured my power into the fabric of reality?" He rubbed the back of his neck and then let out all his breath. "This is really, really hard to explain. It was all sort of intuitive, so putting words to it is just…" He gestured with both hands openly.

"We've got time," Scott said, arms crossed.

"Right." Billy sighed again, and Teddy put a hand on his shoulder. "So… after Tommy died, I thought…" He glanced at Strange. "I was going to make a very, very stupid decision and try to give him five more minutes by messing with time. Just a little bit." When the severe look from Strange seemed to grow into something almost terrifying, Billy looked down at his hands. "I didn't do it, though."

When he peeked up at Strange, the look hadn't gone away, and he quickly looked back down at his hands. "My friend David ... he used to be a Young Avenger, and now he's sort of a cosmic drifter," he tried to explain. "And he showed up to tell me what a spectacularly stupid decision I was making. I argued with him, and to prove a point about consequences, he sent me back in time… except he sent me back a few years instead of five minutes, and when I came back, all this..." He gestured around him. "...it was all gone. The mansion… the X-Men… all of it."

"Gone how?" Teddy prompted when Billy seemed to pause.

"It…" He glanced around the room at the faces that hadn't been there in particular. "The whole thing was leveled." He paused again. "There was a big, white monument instead."

All of the older X-Men seemed to get it at the same time, and their entire body language shifted as they realized what he meant.

"See, when I'd gone back in time, I didn't mean to, but I had accidentally caused a whole chain of events that led to ... well, you remember that bill a few years ago? The tracking one?" When a few of the others in the room nodded, watching him closely, he let out a sigh. "So… see… I was in the past for thirty minutes and got pickpocketed by a bad guy. He found my Avengers ID, and that scared off the Weapon X people that Kate and Clint and Wade were after… and you guys never got the proof you needed, and Weapon X just kept getting more and more government backing until they were basically sorta SHIELD, but a whole lot more evil."

"And I'm telling you, it was the worst place ever," Billy added emphatically. "Anyone with powers ... they were threats if they didn't work for Weapon X. And if you weren't dead, chances were…." He paused. "I mean, they had Cassie and Jana working for them, not to _mention_ the fact that Logan and K were their front lines, and I'd have been mincemeat from the first second I got there if Kurt hadn't rescued me and taken me up to the New Avalon." At that, he glanced at Erik. "It was actually pretty nice up there. You and Kurt were running flat-out trying to rescue stupid kids like me and keep everyone safe, which really didn't work out too well when I got myself captured _again_."

The room was totally silent, and Billy found that he couldn't look at anything but his hands. "I… I don't know how long it took them to find me, but I do know I was causing problems. There was some kind of setup ... hallucinations or something, I don't know how it worked. I thought …" He clenched his hands. "I thought I was being attacked, that the last of the X-Men were coming for me, and by the time they _did_ get me out of there, I was just barely holding onto my powers that Weapon X was trying to get me to use to wipe anyone left from existence itself," he said in a quieter tone.

"When K got me out, I was already on the verge of losing it, so she told me … she said she trusted me, and the next thing I knew, I was miles away from the facility, and then I left reality itself." He looked toward Strange in particular. "I don't really know how to describe what happened from there. It was like I could see everything. _Ever._ I still can if I look hard enough, but it gives me a headache and wears me out," he added, gesturing to his newly acquired galaxies. "But… the point is, I was able to restore _this_ reality, but only by fracturing it and creating a new one. So that horrible reality still exists, and in fracturing reality, I ended up pouring so much power into it that I may have maybe created several pocket universes and rewritten reality across several more." He looked properly sheepish. "That's, ah, that's where America comes from, by the way. One of those realities I created. It's kind of confusing, I know."

"Is that where some of those tears were coming from that just... disappeared?" Hank asked. "Noh-Varr was investigating some not long ago."

"Maybe," Billy admitted. "I still don't really know all of what I did…" He closed his eyes to concentrate as he thought it over. "It _feels_ like that was mostly a temporal problem with the displaced X-Men, but yeah… I think I formed and fixed a few of those too. When I was everywhen at once." He shook his head. "That's weird to think about."

"Maybe … we should just sleep on it for now," Scott said slowly, after a long, silent stretch. "Take stock of the damage in the morning."

"Oh, no, don't worry — no damage," Billy assured him quickly. "I mean, nothing major and earth-shattering and war-inducing…"

"If it's all the same to you, I'll believe it when I see it," Scott said with a raised eyebrow and an exceedingly dry tone.

"Alright," Billy said, nodding to himself before he looked over at Strange. "I… I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't think I could control it any longer. I tried. I swear."

Strange looked more severe than Billy had ever seen him as he frowned at the former Young Avenger. "We will need to take stock of your new powers before you drain your own life force into oblivion," he said in a tone that was oddly calm but stung all the same. "And you _will_ listen to me this time."

For just a moment, Billy was struck with the odd desire to laugh, since, well, he had seen literally all of reality. _Multiple_ realities. There was a real argument to be made that he knew plenty.

But he couldn't, especially because he still didn't know how to hold onto that knowledge. It was too much for him now that he was back on Planet Earth, so unless he was looking at something specific, it was just… not there. He knew he knew it, but he didn't know what he knew until he had to know it.

Which was so, so confusing.

"Right," he said at last as he got to his feet. "Well. Right. I ... I promised Erik I'd tell him the whole story… if you have any… if there's any finer details you want to know or if you just want all of them or…"

"I think it's safe to say that none of us are going anywhere until you're done," Storm told him evenly. "But if you need to rest, or to eat, we'll work around that."

"No — well — yes, but — maybe it would be better to get it all at once," Billy stumbled out.

"Relax, Billy," Storm said, doing her best to be encouraging. "We all just want to know what happened."

Billy nodded and sat back down, still with his gaze on his hands as he launched into a few more details — like just who had been there, and how they'd ultimately left things in that universe, and how when he'd come back, he had just _known_ how things might or might not turn out… the whole nine.


	10. Abracadabra

Billy woke up the next morning in nearly a daze. His throat was still sore from how much talking he'd done the day before, but a quick glance to his left confirmed that Teddy was right there beside him, and to his right—

He grinned at the little girl who was watching him with that same little head tilt as before. Her brother was still asleep, but she was wide awake, just… observing.

"Come on," he said in a soft whisper as he scooped her up and out. "Let's get some food before I get to play twenty thousand more questions, huh?"

The girl simply watched him for a long moment. She and her brother reminded him a lot of the James in the universe he'd just left, not very… talkative or touchy. If there was anyone in the universe who could remedy that, though, he was sure it was Teddy, since he'd married the sweetest man in the world, so he wasn't _too_ worried, even if he was upset on the kids' behalf if he thought about it too long.

Though he was too tired to do that, for the time being.

"We need to come up with a name for you, honey," he told her as he headed downstairs, with the girl on his hip, to the smell of coffee and pancakes. She only watched him in return, and he grinned at her and booped her on the nose — which she seemed to have no idea how to react to.

"Morning, Sunshine," K called out to him with a little smirk. "Swedish pancakes for the more sophisticated. I think Annie has those _awful_ fluffy ones if you prefer."

"Think you could whip me up something with some extra berries for my friend here?" he asked with a small smile.

"Sure can," she replied as she poured him a mug of coffee and pushed it his way. "Extra whipped cream for either of you? I heard you had a rough couple of days."

"What do you think, honey? Whipped cream?" he asked the little girl, who just watched him carefully. "Ah… let's just assume we'll do the normal version?"

K pushed the bowl toward him. "Why don't you let her taste it," she said slowly. "I don't think she knows what it is."

Billy nodded his thanks and put a little of the cream on the girl's plate. She was still watching both him and K until Billy started to eat before she finally stuck one little finger into the cream and put it in her mouth experimentally. Her eyebrows shot straight up, and she very quickly scooped the rest of what was on her plate into her mouth.

"That looks like a 'more please' to me," K said, setting the bowl closer.

"Oh, definitely," Billy agreed with a little laugh as he watched the little girl getting more and more surprised — and delighted — as Billy let her have more of the whipped cream. She had more or less the same reaction to the berries, too, and breakfast suddenly became that much more entertaining watching her happily munch the berries and cream.

"Need more?" K asked offhandedly as she poured herself more coffee. "Of anything?"

"Just more coffee, thanks. I had a long night and then woke up early with a headache, so… caffeine is appreciated," Billy said.

"Just make sure _you_ eat too," she replied before she topped him off. "Then go back to bed. You shouldn't be doing the zombie walk."

"I'm supposed to be meeting up with Cyclops and Doctor Strange and a few other people this morning."

She let out a little noise and waved her hand. "They can wait."

He laughed and then decided to see if they actually could… He concentrated for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Yeah, but they're going to be grumpy about it. And Strange is going to be even worse than usual."

"So, are you putting up your shingle as a fortune teller now?" K teased. "I'll find you a crystal ball."

He laughed and shook his head. "That's … no. That's not really how this works, I think. I can just see … it's like I can see all the possibilities at once. That's not really predicting the future, is it?"

"You could sell it that way," she said with a smirk.

"I think I'll pass, thanks," he said as he scooped a few more berries onto the little girl's plate. "I'd rather focus on other things right now anyway."

"Yes. What's her name?" K asked, watching the little one carefully.

"I don't know yet," Billy said.

"That is shoddy fortune teller work," she accused, pointing a finger at him.

He chuckled. "I don't want to look ahead on this one. I want to decide _with_ Teddy."

"Well you should be able to at least figure out a name, Madame Billy."

"When Teddy gets down here with her brother, we'll hash it out," Billy promised.

K grinned at him, enjoying picking on him, as always. "Then I guess I'll stick around to make sure they get hot food too. Logan is still pinned down by a few little ones. I utterly _abandoned_ him to his fate."

Billy grinned at that, though as she passed him on her way to get more of the Swedish pancakes going, he snagged her by the arm to pull her into a hug, since he wasn't going to move with the little one on his lap with her berries and cream.

"Okay," she said before she hugged him and the little one. "What was that for?"

"For trusting me," he said. "And… for not grilling me about … everything."

"Benefit of being _one_ of the local pains instead of _any_ kind of leader is that we don't have to worry about that stuff. Not really." She kissed his temple. "And why the hell wouldn't I trust you? You're darling."

"Well, I did accidentally create an entire reality where Weapon X is in charge of the whole planet," he said dryly.

She waved her hand again. "Bygones."

"Is your old man going to say the same thing?" he couldn't help but ask.

"When you get to be as old as us, you learn early on that once it's done, it's done. Doesn't make a bit of sense to get all worked up about it," K replied. "Mind you, I'm _far_ better at this than he is. But since everyone here is _here_ and not … whatever, I don't think he'll be too uptight. He did sleep with half a dozen kids camping on him, after all."

"Oh man. I … I need to see all that," Billy said with a grin.

"It happens from time to time. He gets this wonderful expression on his face like he's entirely put upon, then I get slower kisses. No telling what's going on in his head."

"Yeah, no, I know it happens, but where I just was, the youngest were Sying and James, and there weren't any more after that, so the pile was significantly shorter."

"That's no good for him," she said, scrunching her nose. "But... Chance asked Logan to teach him karate last night. So that'll be fun."

Billy broke into a laugh that he just couldn't stop. "Some things don't change no matter what universe you're in."

"Was he running a tiny dojo there too?" she asked. "I need to know for definitely not teasing reasons."

"Well, no, but…" Billy leaned forward with a small, teasing grin and drew a quick square in the air so that K could peek into the neighboring dimension to check out Logan's careful instructions on camping techniques to a very determined five-year-old Chance.

"He's so good with them," K said in almost a purr.

Billy nodded and snapped his fingers as the little window disappeared — and he felt suddenly much more exhausted. "He's maybe, what, a day or two out of being controlled by Weapon X for four years and _that_ is what he's up to."

"You say that like you're surprised," K said, shaking her head slowly. "First thing he'd need to do is get into the woods." She tipped her head to the side. "Well. Or _second_."

"That's true," Billy said with a little nod and a smirk. "And your first priority was James, obviously. Though believe me, you're spoiling them in that world just as bad."

"Someone needs to," she defended.

"Well, you were the one who decided the Summers kids were coming with you," Billy said. "At least, that's how it looked from the outside."

"No, that … sounds accurate."

"I'll keep an eye on that other dimension, let you know if you go the official adoption route or just keep them as your wards so Elin and Chance aren't… y'know."

"I'm sure that if the kids were on board, it'd be a done deal," K said. "And … adoption doesn't count for … that. He'd still be a Summers." She crossed the kitchen to get a glass of chocolate milk for the little one in Billy's lap. "And I don't know what you're talking about … 'spoiling'. Nonsense."

"Oh yeah, no evidence for it whatsoever," he chucked as the little girl in his lap seemed to be nearly overwhelmed by the chocolate milk _on top of_ the berries and cream.

Billy was totally wrapped up in the wide-eyed adorable little girl — so much so that he very nearly missed the handsome green hero who sat down next to him with a dark-haired little one in his lap as well.

"Morning," Teddy said as he leaned over to steal a kiss, and Billy grinned broadly. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Headache," Billy said, gesturing to his eyes.

Teddy raised an eyebrow but didn't get to ask much more than that when the little boy he was holding quickly became absorbed in his sister's antics as the little girl pushed berries and cream his way with serious enthusiasm.

"I ... I didn't get to ask with everything that was going on last night… what's going on with these two?" Teddy asked after K had arrived with a chocolate milk for the little boy as well. "I know you and Erik rescued them, but ... is there a plan here?"

"They don't really have anyone... or any paperwork ... or… they don't technically exist," Billy explained as he scooped a few more berries in front of the twins.

Teddy tried not to grin too hard as he nodded his understanding, since it was probably impolite to grin at something so serious, even if he was already catching on to what it meant. "Alright."

"They need names," Billy said, and Teddy abandoned trying not to grin.

"Alright," he said again, ruffling the little boy's hair, and the boy looked up at him in surprise, clearly not sure what to do with that.

"We'll think of something," Billy said, grinning as he watched Teddy with the little boy, and it didn't take long before both of them had their heads together as the bounced a few ideas between them.

They had very nearly settled on a couple of options when Kate got down for coffee and let out a little squeal of delight. "I _heard_ you were back, but nobody told me about _this_!" she said, gesturing at the two Young Avengers and the kids.

"Morning, Kate," Teddy said with a smirk.

"Morning, Teddy. _What the heck_?" Kate said, her hands on her hips and a _huge_ grin on her face.

"It's a long, long story," Billy said, gesturing for his friend to take a seat. Kate did so — though she made sure to grab her coffee first, of course — and she was still grinning all the way up until she got a proper look at Billy and did a kind of double-take.

"What…?"

"Demiurge," Billy said, glad that, at least for Kate, he had a chance of a short explanation.

"Really?" Kate's eyes were wide as she watched Billy's expression for any sign of a lie, though the literal galaxies were really enough to convince anyone.

"Yeah. I broke reality, sort of fixed it, and came back like this. It was a long week," Billy said.

Kate stared at him openly for a long moment before she seemed to catch herself and looked back down at her coffee. "So… did you … what, magic yourself a set of twins?"

"He so did. Meet Abra and Cadabra," K said with a smirk. "This is what happens when he has to wait for things."

Billy flushed and quickly raised both hands as he shook his head. "No. No. They…" He gestured at the twins and then let out a long sigh. "So, Rachel and Erik were destroying Weapon X bases? And these two were in one of them. No family, no records, so…"

"So we're keeping them," Teddy finished with a broad grin that had Kate clapping her hands together in sheer delight.

"They're _perfect_ ," she declared, watching the two little ones as they took turns getting their fingers sticky in what was left over of the berries and cream now that they'd had their fill — occasionally glancing up at the adults in the room to see if anyone was going to stop them and then diving back into it all over again.

"We're not sure how old they are," Billy admitted. "Maybe about a year."

"Make it a year and have yesterday be their birthday," Kate suggested. "I mean, you get to choose, so why not pick when they got new dads?"

Billy and Teddy glanced at each other and broke into matching grins. "I like it," Teddy said with a nod.

"Of course you do; it's perfect," Kate laughed, leaning back with her coffee. "So ... what are Abra and Cadabra called when they're at home?"

"That's what we were just trying to figure out," Teddy admitted.

"Well, don't let me stop you," Kate said, shooing them ahead. "You need something just… you."

"Thanks, Kate, that's really helpful," Billy said.

"I think I got an eyeroll, but it's hard to tell when the galaxies are always moving," Kate shot back with a grin. "So I'm just going to have to assume you didn't and that I'm amazing."

Billy rolled his eyes at that — but then, Kate was right. It was impossible to tell that he was doing it. "Where's the rest of the Wagner clan?" he asked instead.

"Playing with their dad and his best friend," Kate said, waving her hand. "Kurt left to rescue Logan from at least part of the snuggle pile and never came back, so I can only assume he's been lost to the snuggles. Oh no."

"Oh yeah. That's such a terrible fate," Billy chuckled.

Kate laughed at that, leaning back as she took another long sip of coffee. "So, have either of you talked to America yet?" she asked.

Billy and Teddy glanced at each other. "Umm…"

"Yeah, you need to before she comes to kick your butt herself," Kate said, shaking her head. "I know you needed your half-Skrull snuggles, but some of the rest of us were worried about you too."

Billy let out a long sigh. "She's gonna be mad either way."

"Like ripping a band-aid, Billy," Kate teased. "She'll be less mad if you have names to give her, though. For Abra and Cadabra."

"Stop calling them that, Kate. They're going to start responding to it," Teddy said.

"And?"

"And those are not their names."

"Says you."

"Yeah, says me, and I'm their dad."

Kate's grin widened to obnoxious proportions. "I know, and isn't it fun to say?"

The boys couldn't help laughing at that as they shook their heads in unison, though they had to admit: "Yeah, it is."

Kate beamed at her two friends before she set her coffee mug down. "I'm texting America now to tell her you're up and joking around, so you'd better have names by the time she gets here."

" _Kate_ —"

"I wonder if she'll even bother with flying or if she'll just star portal over."

" _Kate_ —"

"You're right. She doesn't know about your star face yet. She'll probably come normally."

The two of them shook their heads at her, knowing there was no stopping Kate — or America — and especially not Kate _and_ America — so they very quickly got back to whispering through the names now that they had a deadline. It was lucky they'd narrowed it down to just a couple options before Kate got there, or this would have been _much_ harder.

America wasn't the next to arrive, though, as apparently the kids had finally taken mercy on Logan and Kurt, and the mansion residents in the kitchen could _hear_ the stampede of giggling kids and bamfs before they even made it to breakfast, all squeals and laughter and a lot of "no cheating!" coming from the ceiling as Krissy and Sying raced each other.

The noise level had both of Teddy and Billy's new twins leaning back and watching with a fair bit of caution as the small army tumbled into breakfast, tugging on K's pant legs for berries and sweets and generally being as rowdy as usual.

Krissy was the first to spot the newcomers, though, and she ran down the side of the wall at top speed, nearly falling over her own tail before Kurt caught her one-handed. "Papa, look! Billy came back and he brought new friends!" she declared happily.

Kurt smiled as he righted the sideways little girl and kissed the top of her head. "Yes, _Prinzessin,_ but he doesn't want you to fall over your tail before you can meet your new friends."

"I got excited," she said in a quiet little voice that had Kurt laughing. She shook out her braids and then squirmed to be let down so she could skip over to where a few of the kids had crowded around Billy and Teddy and the twins — though not too close, since Logan was sure to tell them to give the kids some space with how unsure the little ones looked over the whole situation.

Sying had somehow managed to climb up onto the table, though, and he was watching the twins with eyes almost as wide as the two little ones. "Did you ask Santa for twins too?" he blurted out at last.

"Billy, you know what that makes you, right?" K stage whispered with wide eyes. "Oooh, and it fits too. Because … you _know ho ho._ "

"You're hilarious," Billy said.

Sying tipped his head to the side. "They kinda look like you," he said at last. "Except for your have the whole sky in your eyes. Is that how you got twins? Did you have to magic them for you like you magicked my mom and everybody else?"

"No, no, we adopted them," Teddy explained when Billy looked like he had no idea what to do with that line of questioning.

Sying nodded thoughtfully. "Okay," he said, though his nose was still scrunched up as he worked it out.

"They're shy," Charlie said, trying to wave to the little boy and getting a little stare in response.

"They're just not used to lots of people, sweetie," Kate said with a smile, though she looked over the top of the kids heads to catch Logan and Kurt's attention to sign _Weapon X rescues_ so that the men were caught up. It was obvious that Logan had to bite back a growl; his response was to take a few steps away from the group of kids for a moment.

"And there's lots of us," Charlie surmised before she gave the twins a kind smile. "That's alright. Maybe we can play quiet things later."

"I'll keep an eye on them a little later so you can get yourselves cleaned up," K offered to Billy and Teddy. "They could use a bath, I'm sure."

"Well, if you don't mind," Billy said hesitatingly, "I think we'd like to stick with them as much as possible, though."

"We'd be happy to," Logan replied. "Unscented soap …"

Teddy was the one to catch on first and nodded quickly. "Right, right. And I'm sure I can… stargaze or something with my downtime," he said, nudging Billy's shoulder with his and getting an affectionate huff in response.

"It won't take us long," K said. "And the best part is really after they have all that … _funk_ scrubbed off."

"Not to mention the berries and cream from all the spoiling," Billy had to tease.

"Like she won't give them more later," Logan chuckled.

"And she says _Annie_ is bad about the spoiling," Kate teased.

"Well, I don't give them _chocolate_ ," K defended. "I never said I wouldn't spoil them with fruit."

"Still technically sugar, I'm just saying," Kate said, sticking her tongue out at her friend.

"Yes, but mine is healthier. And natural. And when they get bigger, they can fight bears for it," K said with a smirk. "In the _blueberry_ patch."

"I can't fight bears," Chance said, sounding alarmed. "I'm still _learning_."

"No one fights bears until they're older," Logan said, playing along.

"How much bigger?" Chance asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"For you?" Logan asked. "Bigger'n me."

Chance took just a second to very obviously size Logan up before he nodded. "Alright. I got time."

Billy couldn't help watching the whole scene with a look somewhere between totally amused and… something totally different before he shook it off. "So, uh, someone said you were teaching Chance karate?" he said, trying to cover.

Logan turned his way with one eyebrow raised. "Well. He did ask. Elin will take it easy on him."

"Elin can kick circles around me," Chance added helpfully.

"You'll catch up," Logan said over Chance's head.

"I'm practicing a lot," Chance said with a huge grin. "Dad's helping me practice."

Logan and K were both smirking hard at that, but neither of them said a word about it as they took their seats on the opposite side of the table as Billy and Teddy.

Chance was just telling Billy and Teddy — and anyone else who would listen — about how his karate lessons were going - and how he was going to be just like his dad when he got bigger ... when the conversation was interrupted by a bright, five-pointed star.

"Oh, hey. I was wrong. She did take the fast way," Kate quipped as America stepped through the star.

"She was _worried sick_ ," K said, ignoring the girl herself.

America shot them both a dry look before she made a beeline for Billy, clearly headed for a hug right up until she saw him properly and drew up short and just… stopped.

"Hi, America," Billy said sheepishly.

" _When did this happen?"_ America demanded in a hoarse tone that she just didn't use, gesturing at Billy's face.

Billy looked his best to look properly apologetic. "It was an accident—"

"It was a… it was an _accident_?" she repeated, totally sideswiped as she stared at Billy.

"Well, if I'd _known,_ I would have said something to you…"

"You…" America shook her head and sat down in the nearest chair as Teddy tried hard not to smirk at the fact that their usually combative friend wasn't nearly as combative. She had good reason, after all. "I came all this way," she said.

"Yeah, I sort of broke this reality in two? And created a new one?" Billy tried to explain. "You had the right reality ... I just screwed it up."

"And I _missed it_."

"You really didn't miss much. Last time was better," he said with a little laugh, thinking of how Teddy had kissed him out of the clouds to get a handle on the Demiurge.

"Obviously," Teddy said with a smirk.

America just stared at both of them for a long while. "So," she said finally, slowly, "do you feel any … different?"

"Tired," Billy admitted. "I have to focus all the time just to see everyone _here and now_ and not in a hundred other possible worlds or timelines."

"But you can?"

"If I want to," Billy said, watching his friend carefully. She had her hands clasped under her chin in a sign he recognized and wasn't actually that comfortable with, so he cleared his throat. "So. Have you met the twins?"

America seemed to blink back to reality as she looked at the frankly overwhelmed-looking little ones. "When…?"

"My grandfather and the Phoenix and I rescued them from an evil black ops group last night," Billy said, waving his hand. "You know. Adoption was taking too long the normal way."

Teddy let out a snort of a laugh at that. "Yeah, _that's_ what happened."

"He's admitted it," K said quietly. "No taking it back now. Lucky little Abra and Cadabra."

"Tell me that's not what you're calling them," America said, which earned a snort of laughter from Kate.

"The best part is that she believes they might," Logan muttered into K's hair.

Teddy and Billy shared a glance and a nod before Teddy gestured to the little boy. "This is Harry, and that's Sammy. Or… Harold and Samantha, but let's be honest. No one is going to call them that."

"No one," Kate agreed with a laugh.

"She's Abra," K said with a wave the little girl's way. "And he's Cadabra. And they both like whipped cream and berries."

"Grammy K," Sying said with a little laugh. "They gotta have normal names! Not _just_ silly Grammy K names!"

"Nuh uh," K shot back in her best bratty tone.

"Uh huh! What are they gonna call them at school?" Sying shot back with his hands on his hips.

"That depends on which school they go to," Elin said quietly.

"Smart kid," Kate said with a grin K's way.

"She gets it honestly," Kurt chuckled.

The twins were starting to get worn out from all the excitement of the morning, and honestly, so was Billy — from all the excitement of the past few days — so he flagged K once the kids had all gotten their fill of breakfast and had moved on to playing with each other.

"Is that offer still open?" he asked. "To clean them up?"

"Yep," Logan said as he and K got to their feet. "I'll let you know if they have any problems."

"Thanks." Billy gently handed Sammy to K, and the little girl seemed perfectly comfortable with her new berries and cream provider, though Harry looked a little suspicious of Logan but latched onto his shirt all the same for balance.

Billy watched the two of them for a moment and then let out a breath. "If you need me, I'm going to take a nap… and then I have one last thing that I think most of the adults around here would be interested in." He had a spark of trouble in his gaze. "Something I started when I went full Demiurge, but I have to finish it in this reality."

"Tease," Kate called out his way.

"That's your problem, not mine," he shot right back, and she just laughed at him.

Teddy came up behind him and draped an arm over Billy's shoulders. "Come on. Let's go stargazing," he teased.

Billy let out a sigh. "You're never going to let that die, are you?"

"Never ever."

* * *

Logan and K got the two little ones upstairs without any troubles, and though Sammy was friendly enough — and familiar with K — both of them were wary of Logan.

K kept the little girl on her hip as she started up the water, and in short order both of them were quite a bit nervous about getting into the tub. But the ferals took their time and kept gently working with them until they were both cautiously playing in the water.

It took Harry a bit more time to try, but once Logan got him splashing his sister — and giggling at the bubbles the splashes made — both little ones started to relax and have a little fun.

They let them play and splash and mess around until the water was cold and both of them were worn out. Once they were wrapped up in towels, they were quick to snuggle in to their new feral friends to fall asleep.

Both K and Logan tried to catch a familiar scent on the little ones, and both of them were relieved when there wasn't anything that was a tie to anyone they knew. "Not clones," Logan said with a smirk. "So let's get them to their new dads."

K nodded and got the two little ones dressed up in some snuggly new clothes. They carried the twins over to Billy and Teddy's room to gently knock. "I know they're waiting up," K whispered.

"All clear," Logan rumbled when Teddy opened the door. "Not clones of anyone."

Teddy's shoulders slumped in obvious relief as he gently scooped up Harry. "So they're not going to turn out evil or anything?" he couldn't help but tease.

"Getting them out of Weapon X was probably a real good start to avoiding that," Logan replied.

"No kidding." Teddy gently pulled Sammy up as well — sneaky about the third arm shapeshifting so that he could finagle the two of them for a moment before he went back to being two-handed. He glanced back to where Billy was passed out on the bed and grinned. "We'll come get you when everyone's up again. I 'convinced' Billy to let me in on his last little surprise, and it's really a good plan."

"No rush," K said with a little wave.

Teddy just laughed in response as he took the twins inside.


	11. The Demon In The Basement

When Billy was finally awake again, most of the adults were at least a little curious what he could possibly have up his sleeves _now_. The godlike powers and physical changes were only one thing, after all.

He had left the twins with Teddy — who already knew the whole story — and because there was always the chance his idea could go sideways, he was fully decked out in his Wiccan uniform when the group met him outside, smiling broadly.

"So, I think I have the solution to your demon in the basement problem," he declared without preamble.

"I thought the demon in the basement was handled," K said, settling in between Logan and Kurt.

"Yeah, I get to punch him, and then he goes back where he belongs," Kate agreed.

"I was thinking something a little more long-term," Billy explained. "You know, so you don't have to deal with him for the rest of forever and all generations of Wagners until the end of time every time someone has a baby?"

"I'm listening," Kurt said in a metered tone.

Billy nodded. "Well, when I was playing with reality, I saw a few realities where he took over…" He glanced toward Kate and Kurt. "Which were horrible. So I thought it would be alright to interfere with reality just a little bit _in this case_ and I might have _maybe_ started a spell to turn him human."

"You did what?" Kurt leaned forward, his eyes wide and his tail completely still.

"I mean, he'd still be around for another few decades or however long he lives unless someone kills him or something, but… I severed his ties to Hell to start with."

"So … if he dies, he won't be able to regain all of his power and raise his armies?" Kurt asked, looking like he didn't believe that one bit.

"As long as he's mortal, he'll just be another soul in Hell living in torment for being awful," Billy said. "At least, that's how the spell should work."

"But you aren't sure," Kurt said. "He could still die and regain everything he wants."

Billy let out his breath as he concentrated. "As long as … I can't see that happening as long as I get help finishing the spell," he said after a long moment.

"What kind of help would you need?" Kurt asked, his tone more open.

"Honestly? I just need more _juice_ ," he explained. "I don't know how to stop the spells I cast from taking my everything with this new power, so I need someone else to help me feed it so I don't burn out halfway through."

All of the gathered adults shared a look. "How do we do that?" Scott asked.

"Anyone who knows how to use magic can help, really," Billy said. "They wouldn't have to cast the spell, just lend me their support once I start. That's a pretty basic support spell; I learned it from Doctor Strange years ago."

"Have you run this idea past him?" Kurt asked. "Because I'm sure he'd be the one to gather up more magic users for you."

"Well, I wanted to run it by _you_ first. It's your demon issue and your basement," Billy pointed out.

"Technically, it's a hole a few miles under the school," Logan said.

"Still the basement," Billy said with a little smile. He looked around at the gathered group, all of whom still looked skeptical, and sighed. "Well?"

"I say if you think it'll work, go for it, but … it's not my demon problem either," K said, honestly trying to break the mood into a more positive tone.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Billy?" Kate asked gently.

He nodded. "I'm still trying to figure out how this works," he said, gesturing to his face, "but I do still know how to shape reality. Always have."

"Worst case scenario, we'll just have to fight back Hell to kill him," Logan said with a shrug.

Kurt watched Billy for a long moment. "Speak to Doctor Strange first," he said at last. "If he thinks the spell is viable, and he can help you complete it…" He sighed. "It would be very nice to be rid of him."

"He'd still be horrible to deal with," Billy said, just to make sure all of the truth was out there. "Even mortal, he'd be a pain."

"But not a full-on take-over-the-world pain," Kurt clarified.

"Not without help," Billy said. "Not on his own." He narrowed his eyes as he tried to see it. "And don't let someone called Margali anywhere near him."

"Doctor Strange put her somewhere," Kurt said.

"Then you're fine," Billy said with a nod. "We do this right, and worst case scenario, he's just another supervillain. The totally beatable kind."

"What do you think, Kate?" Logan asked. "He's been more of a pain for you two than anyone."

Kate bit her lip and glanced up at Kurt. "I think… it would be nice to know Krissy and Kari aren't going to have to deal with him twenty years down the road when they're trying to make their own way too," she said at last. "I don't mind punching him into submission every time he shows up, but it would be nice if he wasn't terrorizing my girls… and their kids…. And their kids…"

"That's why they keep _us_ around," K teased Logan quietly, who nodded seriously in response.

"So… I'll talk to Strange then," Billy offered. "I need to talk to him anyway about figuring out how to not totally drain myself doing simple spells."

"And we'll have Tony and Noh on hand to make sure the stasis field can go back up at a moment's notice if something doesn't go according to plan," Scott added.

"Not to mention I'll punch his lights out," Kate grumbled.

"What are we going to do with the little ones while the creeper-in-law is up here?" K asked.

"It's up to the parents, but I know Krissy and Kari were hoping to go somewhere fun for a summer vacation trip," Kate suggested. "Maybe somewhere different this time. I know some great private beaches in California."

"I'll call Heather for the little ones," Logan said. "No reason to have 'em all in one place."

"Annie can take ours to see her parents," Scott agreed. "Let them all get out for a while."

"Alright, great," Billy said, nodding. "So… I'll just… I'll talk to Doctor Strange and come back in a week or two?" he offered. "Is that enough time — or do you want to move earlier on this and get it over with?" He closed his eyes. "It doesn't seem to make that big of a difference either way."

"Two weeks," Kurt said. "Give yourself time to get used to your powers. And if you need more time than that, _ask for it_." His tail was swishing behind him. "This is one thing we need to execute flawlessly."

* * *

The mansion seemed a lot quieter with so many kids and even several adults gone when Billy, Doctor Strange, and Ilyanna showed up in the living room. But unlike in the past, Billy didn't seem nearly as nervous as was usually the case for this kind of thing, though he kept closing his eyes to check and recheck that they weren't about to set off some cataclysmic event.

He was getting better at isolating what was their reality and what was others, so he was almost entirely certain that this was going to work.

As promised, Tony and Noh were on hand in case they had to fall back on the old plan to keep Azazel contained — and both ferals as well as Kate and Kurt were there for a fight. Just in case. Scott and Storm rounded out the group — and Kitty was down below retrieving the guest of dishonor.

"Last chance," Billy offered Kurt. "If you ask me to, I'll back off."

Kurt shook his head gently. "At this point, it's better to try it."

Billy nodded his understanding as Kitty arrived with the still-stasised demon king a moment later… and tried very hard not to grin when he saw that the beginnings of his spell were already working. Azazel was still red and had a tail… but the fur was receding, and his color wasn't so vibrant, almost a pinkish, newborn-like hue.

"Billy…. What did you _do_ to him?" K asked with a smirk.

"I told you: I got the spell started," he said. "I just need to finish it is all, cut his ties to Hell before I complete the mortality shift."

"You want his tail cut off too?" Logan asked, clearly ready to get into it.

Billy almost laughed. "It should fall off, actually."

Kurt winced slightly at that with a muttered 'oh.'

"Too bad," Logan said. "That was fun."

"Well then." Billy took in a deep breath and looked to his two companions. "We have to set up a basic containment spell. It should stop him even if he's at full strength for at least a couple hours. It won't take that long, but we're overdoing it."

"And once that is complete, we will need to release him from the stasis in order to remove his ties with Hell from his conscious mind as well as his body and soul," Strange explained. "If we sense even the slightest possibility that he may escape, then we will stop and put him back underneath the school."

"Seems fair," Kate grumbled, looking ready to hit a demon if need be.

The three magic users shared a look before all three raised their hands, and sigils appeared in the air in front of them, carved into reality around Azazel at his feet, in the air, and above his head until even those who couldn't use magic could see the lines of energy completely encapsulating him.

"If you would, Mr. Stark," Strange said with a nod Tony's way.

"On your signal, doc," Tony said with a nod, looking more businesslike and serious than any of them had seen him in a long time. When they were all set, and everyone was ready, Strange gave him the quick countdown and Tony hit the switch.

It was clear the moment the stasis had dropped, as the half sneer Azazel had been wearing when Kate last hit him turned into a full one. The tufts of red smoke that rose up around him for just a moment were the evidence that he'd tried — unsuccessfully — to teleport, and the sneer only deepened as he took in his surroundings.

"Playing more games with paltry tricks?" he said at last, sounding almost bored. "You must know this won't hold me for long."

"Wrong," Kurt said, though his tail was switching behind him. "And we really don't need it to hold you for long."

"You look like hell," K said behind Kurt, smirking to herself. "And not at all the way you want to, either."

Azazel frowned and looked down at his hands — which were steadily losing not only their color but their fur as the red fuzz seemed to shrink into his skin. He let out a sound that was almost like disbelief and pounded one fist against the barrier. "What — _What_ is the meaning of this?"

"Oh, have I introduced you to my friend Billy?" Kate asked airily but with a wicked gleam to her eyes. "He's a god in some universes."

"Which is more than what can be said for you," K said under her breath.

Azazel howled his displeasure along with several words that shook the mansion but didn't shatter the magic around him, though the three magic users looked a little annoyed, if anything.

"If it'll make it easier, I can cut his tongue out first," Logan growled out.

"The words will have less power when he is no longer a demon," Strange said out of the corner of his mouth as he focused on the spell.

"You think it will make any difference what I am in this pitiful world?" Azazel spat out, his angry tone offset somewhat by the fact that they were literally watching him turn mortal before their very eyes.

"If it won't make a difference, then what concern is it to you?" Kurt nearly hissed back at him.

"I am a _king_ ," Azazel all but growled his way.

"Not anywhere that matters," Kurt replied.

"Insolent boy," he snapped back. "You think this will make you safe from my wrath when my protection is gone and I am _temporarily_ in this position?" He gestured to Kate and K. "You think you can go on the way you have before when my blood is no longer tied to yours?"

"I see no reason why not," Kurt replied.

Azazel was nearly shaking with rage as the last of the red color left him. "I still have power and influence in this world. You cannot hide — you and your _unremarkable_ wife and your animalistic friends bent on repopulating the world with eternally-lived _beasts_ ," he snarled.

Kurt growled, ready to tear into his father with his own two hands. "You'll have nothing, and you'd be wise to watch what you say around my _remarkable_ wife and friends."

Azazel just laughed, though it wasn't quite controlled as his fur disappeared. "I can be patient. One way or another, it will be _you_ left with nothing when I am through with you."

"Can we cut his tongue out _now_?" Logan asked.

"It would be permanent," Billy said as he waved his hand. There was the strangest sort of thump as the last of the changes took effect. The waving red tail simply dropped off — and Kurt couldn't help that his own tail stiffened and stilled as well. All three of the magic-users looked worn out, but Billy's huge grin spoke volumes. "How well does he treat his armies in Hell, do you think?" he asked. "Because when he dies, they're gonna get a shot at his _mortal soul_."

"I'd be happy to send him there to find out," Logan growled, stalking closer to him.

"Could you wait just a little bit?" Billy asked.

Logan stopped and turned toward him. "Why?"

"Because he needs to be in Rikers Island," Billy explained. "There's…" He sighed. "Just for a week. The increased security will help a different breakout from happening, and then we can send him, I don't know, to the Raft or something; it doesn't matter after that."

Logan looked obviously disappointed but nodded. "Fine. One week on the stay of execution."

Billy nodded his thanks and then turned Noh's way. "So, the stasis is great, thanks. Don't get rid of it."

"I wasn't planning to," Noh told him.

Strange put a hand on Billy's shoulder and nodded at the younger man before he turned to the gathered X-Men. "If you like, we can escort him to his new lodgings. The last time he was captured, the prison had adequate protections against magic users, but I would like to inspect them myself all the same." He smiled tightly. "As one final precaution."

"Fine by me," Kate said. "If I never see him again, it'll be too soon."

"Please," Kurt agreed. "He's darkened our doorstep for far too long."

Strange nodded at that, and in a flash of light, all three magic users were gone — along with one former demon king.

The group as a whole let out an audible breath, and Kate leaned over on Kurt. "Remind me to kiss Billy when I see him next."

"I'm sure you'll remember," Kurt replied with an almost tired smile. "But I'll remind you if it's that pressing."

She laughed lightly and then wrapped her arms around him. "Let's go find our girls," she murmured into him. "I could use a vacation."

"That's the best idea I've heard in weeks," Kurt agreed, pulling her closer and wrapping his tail around her leg. "I'm sure it's time we helped them to build sand castles."


	12. Dadpool's Good News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for being so slow to upload this. I'm fighting a head cold and so far, it's winning. - CC

Logan and K had just gotten back from visiting Heather and Mac, and as K had expected, it had taken three whole days to get Heather to the point that she was ready to see the two little ferals go back to their parents.

They'd just gotten the kids settled in for a nap — since they'd been playing hard and couldn't settle down in the plane — when there was a knock at the door, followed by Wade letting himself in.

K's head popped up from where she was drinking a cup of green tea and reading a book when she heard the knocker come inside, though she relaxed substantially when Wade called out to her. "Hello? Anybody home?" he sang, though he was loud about making his way to the kitchen.

"Everyone's … doing their own thing, Wade," K called back. "Come on in. I think Scott's managed to secure himself the honor of cooking tonight. But only because Annie said he was allowed to grill."

"That _does_ sound great, and I nee-e-e-e-ed to talk to the big ol' Laser Face anyway," Wade said, delightedly and obnoxiously grinning.

"Well, big ol' Laser Face is shopping, so sadly, I'm about the most 'official' person around for a while. Sweet Stabbers is upstairs with the little ones."

"Oh, well, what about the resident weather witch?" Wade asked hopefully.

"Vacation with her sweetheart and her husband," K said. "Sorry to disappoint."

"No-o-o-o," Wade said quickly, shaking his head. "No, always happy to hang around the shorter and stabbier Wolverlady."

"Please don't call me that," she said. "Or I'll stop calling you 'snuggle muffin'."

Wade let out an 'eep' and mimed a zipper over his mouth, nodding quickly, though he started trying to talk through closed lips, paused, held up one finger, unzipped his mouth, and tried again. "I just need to talk to somebody in charge about _admissions_ ," he said, leaning forward with a grin.

"You're a little old to attend, _snuggle muffin_ ," she said with a smirk.

Wade laughed delightedly. "Yes, yes, I know these things about myself, but I was _talking_ about Ellie. Right, Ellie?" he called out, seemingly to no one — which was just that much more off-putting when the response, again from seemingly nowhere, was 'uh-huh.'

K couldn't control it as a low growl reverberated the room and she tensed up, searching for the source. But that just had Wade doing double time to get her to relax.

"Woah! Easy there!" he called out, both hands in front of himself. "She can't control it, and I promise … I thought you'd know she was there."

"I can't smell her," K said, though the growl hadn't quit, and she was just watching for any movement. "What did you _do_?"

"Yeah, nothing … he didn't do anything ... Dad tried some infrared goggles to find me, and they didn't work either," Eleanor's voice rang out.

K closed her eyes, her jaw locked down tight as she tried to control her reaction and force down the growl. Finally, she very carefully wet her lips before speaking slowly. "We should probably take you down to see Henry first."

"Yes please," Eleanor said politely as Wade bounced in place.

K got to her feet and made her way to the door leading out of the kitchen before she held out her open hand. "Eleanor, please hold my hand."

K could feel Eleanor take her hand and squeeze it as she said in her quiet voice, "I really didn't mean to scare you."

"I know," K replied with a little smile. "I just don't react well to things that fall outside of my senses," K explained. "Holding your hand helps with that."

"I'm trying to be visible," she promised.

"Don't try anything," K advised. "If you can't control it yet, you might be focusing on the wrong thing accidentally."

"Alright," Eleanor said, then paused. "Lisbet didn't growl as loudly as you did."

"She's not as reactive as I am," K admitted. "Or anywhere near as mean."

"Well, she didn't say she couldn't sense me at all, but I think I scared her when she couldn't find me…"

"That's because she won't admit that anything scares her until it's so obvious it hurts," K told her. "You more startled me than scared me."

Eleanor giggled at that and squeezed K's hand again. "It's alright. Dad freaked out when I fell asleep and he couldn't hear me to know if I was in the room."

K frowned and looked over her shoulder at Wade. "How long has she been invisible?"

"Since about midnight last night?" Wade offered, his shoulders shrugged up to his ears. "It's… been a long night. And day. And evening."

"We'll figure it out," K promised. "We're just a little bare bones with everyone on break."

"Right, right," Wade nodded seriously. "Gotta get all the babymoon vacationing in for the lovely glowing ladies."

"You're ridiculous," K said under her breath, shaking her head as the elevator door opened to the sublevel that housed Hank's lab. She led the two of them over to Hank, who looked almost anxious to see her there.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, on his feet in a flash.

"Not with me," K insisted as she held up Eleanor's hand — though Hank of course, couldn't see it. "Eleanor is a mutant. And she's stuck invisible and — as far as I can tell — entirely undetectable."

"Hi," Eleanor called out as proof. "You should look at Dad; I think he's gonna have a stroke."

"He'll heal," K said dispassionately. "But you? Hank has more experience in these things and is less of a growler."

A few things in the lab moved as Eleanor hit them on purpose in passing before she hopped up next to Hank, the indent on the bed the only proof of where she was. "So, this just sort of happened?" she offered.

"Oh my," Hank said, frowning at the space that the girl had to be occupying. "Yes. That's how it happens — all at once, usually." He frowned and pulled up a seat to sit across from her, since an actual examination was more or less out of the question for the time being. "What were you doing when this happened?"

"Playing with Lisbet, actually," Eleanor said. "Dad got a new VR game setup from Uncle Phil, and she agreed to try it with me, and when we took off the helmets from fighting off invading archers — poof! She couldn't see me."

"So you were submerged in a virtual reality," Hank said, nodding slowly. "It's possible you triggered some portion of your brain while you were playing. The flashing lights paired with the slight sensory deprivation or … alteration as it were …"

"All I know is I've never heard Lisbet hit that pitch before," Eleanor giggled.

"Low or high?" Hank asked with an amused smile.

"High," Eleanor giggled again.

"And your father? Did he go higher or lower than Lisbet?"

Eleanor giggled some more. "Oh, higher, definitely."

"Betrayed by my own blood," Wade said sadly, shaking his head with one hand to his heart.

K reached over to absently pat his arm. "Pretty sure you'll live, big guy."

"Or heal from it anyway," he teased.

"That too," she agreed. "Hank ... she's got no scent, and Snuggles said she's invisible to infrared. What have you got to help her through so one of the other more reactive types doesn't accidentally stab her? Short … of putting a bell around her neck, that is, because I'm sure Wade has teased her about it already."

"Actually, he was going to cover me in flour and say I was haunting the house," Eleanor said, which had Wade giggling madly and nodding.

"It would be _so_ convincing! And she'd fit right in with the real ghosts!" Wade insisted.

"No," K said, shaking her head. "What about the clothes? Have you tried putting on a baggy shirt or something, or does that just fade out with you?"

"It seems to fade out with me," Eleanor admitted. "But not people, just things."

"If that's the case, then makeup — or flour — would be of no use," Hank said. "I'm afraid you'll likely have to simply wait for Rachel to return. She's exceptionally good at finding the triggers to new abilities."

But that just had Eleanor giggling all over again. "But _Dani_ said she's on _vacation_ with Iceman. _Dani_ said she saw them going shopping for _swimsuits_."

"Don't tell Cyclops," K whispered.

"Oh, never," Eleanor agreed, still giggling.

"Logan might be good for meditation. That helped Tyler … maybe that would help you too?" K offered.

"Oooh, yes," Wade said, nodding quickly. "Overstimulating VR to very very quiet stabby meditation. Good thought. Yes. I like it."

"There is no stabbing in the meditation … usually," K corrected.

"Would he need to hold my hand too?" Eleanor asked honestly.

"That … would be up to him," K replied. "I'm a little extra on edge right now." She rested one hand on her stomach and shrugged. "Can't be helped."

"Yes, this is true. Mama Bear instincts are strong with this one," Wade agreed, nodding seriously. "But maybe we should introduce our favorite Wolverine to my little girl in a controlled lab environment," he added, again entirely seriously.

"Oh yes, because a _lab_ is definitely relaxing for him and doesn't put him on edge _at all_ ," K said in her most sarcastic tone. "I'll be there. Let me handle him."

Eleanor hopped down from the examination table — the indentation was no longer there — and let out a little sigh. "Alright, let's try it. I was _supposed_ to go out with Lisbet and Dani and Jessica Jones for a girls night, so if you can fix it, that would be _great_."

K nodded and started toward the door. "Tell me about what you girls are up to tonight," K said, a plan in place already on how to get Logan in on this little job.

Eleanor giggled. "Oh, I can't tell you _all_ of it," she said.

"Why not?" K asked with a little laugh. "I can banish your father if he shouldn't hear it."

"No, Dad's the one in on it; I'm _helping_ him shop for Lisbet," Eleanor explained.

"Then you _definitely_ need to tell me what's up. Get permission and all that noise."

"Oh, not _rings_." Eleanor giggled, though she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Not yet anyway."

"Are you sure?" K asked. "I thought for sure he had one already for her."

"Well, I don't know. He keeps going back and forth," Eleanor whispered low enough that only K could hear. "You know. Because he doesn't want to mess it up."

"Does he need picking or heartfelt encouragement?" K asked quietly.

"That second thing, probably. I think he's scared to ask permission," Eleanor giggled delightedly.

"On it," she said with a nod before she raised her voice to more normal speaking levels to change the subject to _if_ Eleanor wanted to go to the school in the fall, knowing that Logan had to be in the kitchen by now. "Which classes would you want to take?"

"Oh, wow, I haven't even thought about that," Eleanor admitted.

"Well, the basics are picked for you," K said, looking over to Logan as they entered the kitchen. "Self-defense is mandatory, though." She tipped her head toward Eleanor with a significant look Logan's way.

"Dad might have a heart attack.… He doesn't like me fighting," Eleanor said.

"Only because he'd be afraid you'd kick his ass," Logan said, catching on quickly and trying to see the girl outside of the fact that K was clearly holding her hand still. "What happened?"

"I'm a mutant!" Eleanor said brightly.

"Whaddaya know," Logan said slowly. "Musta got it from your mom's side."

"That's what Dad said," Eleanor agreed. "You know. Once he could talk again."

"Slim's in town still," Logan said, still trying to see something. "You're stuck, aren'tcha?"

"Since last night," Eleanor admitted.

"Rachel won't be back for a few days anyhow — unless of course the point of this little rendezvous is to run off with her popsicle.… We could call Scott. Have him rush back. Unless you got other ideas…."

"Meditation," K said. "You could teach her that and see how it goes."

"Sure," he agreed. "And if it doesn't work, you can scare the crap outta Slim. That's always fun."

"Dad already suggested I pretend to haunt the place. I thought it would be fun to pretend to be the Force for Sying's next birthday," Eleanor giggled.

"Could be fun to act like you're there and he's the only one that can't see you," Logan suggested.

"Yeah, let's start with being seen again, please?" she asked. "It's weird being stuck like this."

Logan smirked and made his way over to where she and K were standing, then offered her his hand. When she switched from K to Logan, Logan looked up at Wade and stuck one finger in his face. "You … can't go."

Wade let out a terrifically long groaning noise. "Fiiiiine."

"And that's why," Logan said before he led Eleanor out of the house and down to the dock at the lake, leaving Wade staring out the window and watching him go with the invisible girl.

"You need to relax a little," K said. "She's in good hands."

"Yeah…" Wade kept staring out the window. "You know, she used to be yea tall and never turned invisible ever."

"Kids change," K replied, as if it was inevitable that any of them would just become … invisible.

"Yeah…" Wade said in that exact same tone as before.

"You okay, Wade?" she asked. "There are worse things than finding out your daughter is genetically superior."

Wade let out a little laugh and leaned back in his chair. "It's the _best news ever_ ," he said with particular relish.

"So .. what else is eating you?" she asked before she offered him the last of Annie's chocolate chip cookies. "Is Lisbet being a pain? Because I will kick her trash across six states …"

Wade shook his head, bringing his chair down to all four legs as he leaned almost halfway across the table. "No picking on my girls," he said seriously. "I can only take so much in one day, and invisible baby is my limit."

"She's my sister? So I'll pick at her if I want to," she countered. "Even if it's because she's being a pain to you or Ellie."

"No, no, no, no, she is Lisbet. And Lisbet is… Lisbet," Wade said as if that explained everything, his hands clasped under his chin.

"I _know_ , right?" K pulled a face, sticking her tongue out. "She's awful."

"She's _amazing_ ," Wade said, and even though the chair didn't spin, he was doing his level best to spin in it anyway.

"Come on," K said, waving one hand at him. "You can't think she's that great."

"Oh no?" Wade spun ninety degrees and turned his head sideways. "Just because _you're_ her sister you have to not think that — but you are sadly, sadly, _sadly_ blind!"

"Saying I'm wrong doesn't make it true," K countered. "Especially when you have nothing to back it up."

"Lies," Wade said, one hand over his heart. "Lies, dirty, dirty lies."

"I have only ever lied to you once, and that was only because it was hilarious," K pointed out.

"That … is true, but that only means that you are sadly, sadly, _wrong_. Your sister is amazing and beautiful and she's so nice to my baby girl and she should be sitting on a picket fence somewhere being painted by Da Vinci and…"

"That might hurt," she said. "But … I have to ask. How long have you two been together?"

"Two years, seven months, eleven days, and ten hours."

K smirked. "Do you _love_ her or just the mental imagery of Da Vinci painting her fence?"

Wade leaned forward even further with as serious an expression as it was possible to convey with the mask on. "Oh, definitely love her, definitely. Yes."

K pushed her mug out of the way and rested her hand on his arm. "Then what the hell are you waiting for? Do you know how long your 'brother' waited before he started pestering me?"

"I thought it was when the little tiny adorable heartbreaking future Summers came into the picture?"

"More like a month before they announced they were pregnant with said future heartbreaker," K told him.

Wade stared at her openly. "Oh. _Oh_." He let out a sort of noise that fell somewhere between delighted and terrified. "OH." He scooted back. "Do all the women in your family make men wait that long?"

K cleared her throat. "No, that's just me. You should ask her. She thinks the white picket fence thing is very attractive."

"Yes, okay, but see… _seeeeee."_ Wade shifted around a bit before he finally sighed. "Yes. Right. Yes. Okay."

"What am I supposed to see?" K asked.

Wade shifted around some more. "I am … not picket fencey."

"You're _her_ picket fence," she countered.

Wade giggled delightedly. "Okay?" he said, sort of spinning again.

"And I can … pretty much promise that it won't take a Sabretooth attack to get a yes out of her," K said.

"Oooh, don't say things like that out loud," Wade said seriously.

"Pretty sure he'd be after me anyhow," K said.

"Yeah, but if you tempt fate, you tempt the evil brains, and they are _scary_ ," Wade said seriously.

"Yes, yes, the evil brains that make the world miserable; you've said that before," she replied rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Wade. Where do you come up with this crap?"

"It sounds weird, I know, but that's what they call it when they want to make their characters sad." Wade shrugged.

"Come on," she said, shaking her head at him. "We can get the rest of dinner started before Scott and Annie come and freakin' take the place over. Logan and Ellie will be a while, and I can tell you what Lisbet always wanted in a proposal."

"Oh, would you pretty please?" Wade asked delightedly.

"Sure," she agreed. "Just start peeling potatoes."

The two of them got to work, with K telling Wade all of the details on what Lisbet had always wanted out of a proposal, down to the tiniest of details she had ever talked about — for _decades_. Scott and Annie came in about halfway into the batch of lemonade that K was making — both of them almost out of breath from laughing about something or other.

Both of them stopped dead when they saw K and Wade working away. "Wade … has good reason to be here, and he's starving," K said without more than glancing at Scott.

"Well, you're already halfway on your way to solving the starvation," Annie said after a moment as she smiled at the potatoes and carrots that had been peeled.

"Bread's proofing," K replied. "And dessert's in the fridge."

"Sounds like you have everything covered," Annie said, already carrying the hamburger bags out toward the door.

"Just waiting on your beloved," she agreed.

"Burgers and hot dogs for the kids will be done in no time," Scott promised. "Little longer for the steaks, though."

"Be sure you put some up for Ellie," K said. "She wanted to see you too."

"Oh, really?" Scott asked, pausing on the way out the door.

"She's playing with Logan right now," K called out to him, then shrugged at Wade. "Close enough," she said quietly.

"Well, we'll set out a place for her at dinner," Annie promised. "You too, Wade. Is Lisbet coming too?"

"Ah, no. She's out with friends," Wade admitted. "Ellie was going to take her shopping before our plans changed... " He glanced toward K and was all but bouncing in place.

"Wade … would you go tell Logan and Ellie dinner is about done?" K asked with a little smirk. "I can finish the lemonade alone."

Wade beamed at her, nodded, kissed her cheek, then zipped off quickly to do just that as Annie and Scott shook their heads. "What's going on with him?" Scott asked. "Do I want to know?"

"You probably do," K admitted. "But I'll let him tell you. He … is excited." She paused and turned to face Scott properly. "And no, he's not trying to join the team."

"Not today anyway," Scott said with a smirk despite himself before he headed to the grills to get started.

A short while later, Wade was bouncing at the door with Logan and … an almost-clear Eleanor a few steps behind him.

"Oh!" Annie almost bounced over to Eleanor as well, her eyes wide on seeing the beaming young lady. "What…?"

"Did what we could," Logan said. "Still not crap for figurin' out how to stop stuff like this when meditation doesn't work."

"You did great," Eleanor assured him, grinning down at herself delightedly. "At least everyone can see me now."

"You were invisible before?" Scott asked.

"Very," Eleanor agreed with wide eyes.

"And undetectable," Logan added. "No scent. I could hear her when she walked, but if she was still …"

Scott had both eyebrows raised and nodded as he looked over both Wade and Eleanor. "When did this happen?"

"Last night," Eleanor said as she took the seat Annie indicated for her. "Dad freaked out when we couldn't figure out how to turn me back to living color."

"Right, right," Wade agreed. "And we wanted to ask about _admissions_ , oh great Cyclops," he said with a dramatic wave Scott's way. "For my darling baby girl."

"Dad."

"For my favorite person on the planet."

"Dad."

"For Eleanor."

"Yeah, of course," Scott said. "If she wants to go here, that is. We'd be happy to help you learn to control your new abilities."

Eleanor beamed. "Yes, please. I'd like to be visible. It's weird when no one knows where to look to look me in the eyes."

Scott smirked. "I'm sure." He shook his head to himself as he went back to prepping for dinner. "Rachel will be back in … what … a week? In the meantime, I'll work with you on finding out how to turn it off and on."

Eleanor nodded politely. "Thank you," she said. "K was telling me about some of the classes here. I think it sounds pretty amazing."

"Did she try to sell you on her horseback riding group?" Annie asked.

"The dance class, actually," Eleanor giggled. "It would be hard to ride horses if they couldn't see me or smell me or anything."

"And disappearing when your dance partner stinks is much more useful," Logan agreed.

"Well at least if I did it in the middle of a dance, we'd be holding hands, so they'd _know."_

"So he'd look like he was dancing by himself," K said with a smirk. "And we could all point out how he must be terrible."

Eleanor giggled at that. "I just hope no one sits on me in class."

"You'll probably have pretty good control by the time school starts. We just need to practice," Scott said before he headed out to the grill again.

Eleanor was just beaming by that point as a few more people started to trickle down for dinner, though she leaned over to K with a crooked smile. "Didja talk to Dad?"

"Maybe a lil' bit," K replied. "I'm sure he'll gush to you about it later. Tell you the whole story in excruciatingly exaggerated detail."

"You know that's true," Eleanor giggled. "Thanks."

"That's my job right? As un-official-not-related aunt?" K asked, bumping shoulders with her.

"Well ... you mean soon-to-be aunt," Eleanor whispered back.

"Not the way your dad tells it," K replied.

"He'll ask her. He's just … like this."

"He's got a whole plan that I'm sure he'll make bigger before it gets done."

"I'd rein him in, but Lisbet loves it," Eleanor giggled.

K leaned closer to whisper so only Eleanor could hear her. "I told him what her dream proposal scenario was. He's going to go completely overboard."

"Do you want me to record it? I bet I could get away with no one noticing," Eleanor pointed out.

"She'll want you to," K said. "I'm not too wrapped up in that side of things."

"Something to look back on in your not-old age," Eleanor teased.

"Or something like it anyhow." K waved Eleanor over to have her help finish prepping. "I'm going to go get the kids. I can hear them giggling from here."

"Dad says that's because they're betrothed."

"Oh, yeah. That too. Has nothing to do with the tickle fight happening," K replied. "At least it sounds like a tickle fight... and there is no screaming … so."

Eleanor shooed her forward. "Go ahead. I'm good. Thanks for helping me and my dad, really. It's been a day."

"It was nice," K admitted with a little smirk as she rested her hand on her stomach, not unlike how she'd usually smooth the fabric out. "It'll be nice to have _all_ of you around more." K gave her a little smile then turned to find the kids, squealing with laughter long before she walked into the room.


	13. Listen Here, Mr. Summers

When Rachel had asked Alex what some of the best beach spots were in Hawaii, he'd been more than happy to give her his assessment of the best places for surfing, for swimming, and for just a good view — they were all different based on what you wanted — as well as the best places to eat and a few other suggestions that Rachel was sure she couldn't pack into a month in Hawaii, let alone a couple of weeks, but she appreciated it all the same.

Alex had been all smiles when Rachel and Bobby landed at the airstrip, obviously ready to show her around to some of his favorite spots — until he saw her travelling companion.

_Don't start,_ she warned before he could even get there.

_I'm not … I just …._ Alex projected back, trying to regain his smile. _He's older than I am._

She shrugged lightly. _Yeah, I know. Don't tell Dad, alright?_

Alex goggled at her for just a moment. _He doesn't know?_

_Bobby's still in one piece,_ she pointed out reasonably. _Come on; if_ you're _taking it this way…_

_He's going to kill him,_ Alex said before he switched to speaking out loud. "Nice to see you guys," Alex said as they made it up to him the rest of the way. "I found a nice place for you to stay, but … I could find something closer if you'd rather."

"I'm sure it's great," Bobby said with an easy grin. "We don't want to intrude on you and Lorna and Magda anyhow."

"Yeah," Alex said, shaking his head in spite of himself. "It'd be no trouble, really."

"Come on," Rachel said, shooting him a look. "You said there were great beaches and good food. I'm sure we can meet up for a luau or something one of these nights if you really miss your favorite niece that badly," she teased.

"I'm just saying," Alex said with a shrug and a troublemaking smile. "Iceman is Magda's favorite _classic_ X-Man."

"You're hilarious," Bobby deadpanned.

"No, really. Think about it," Alex said. "She lives in Hawaii. Snow is like … magic to her."

"Yeah, she told me about it on Christmas," Bobby said. "The sunshine in the holidays."

"And you know she loves shaved ice. So."

"We'll have a luau," Bobby agreed with a nod. "Any flavor of shaved ice she wants. She's a cute kid, Alex."

"Good genes," Rachel teased as she took Bobby's hand in hers. "See you around, then?" she asked Alex.

"Count on it," Alex replied as he gave them a little wave and let out a sigh.

_You sound like my dad when you do that,_ Rachel projected as she was leaving.

_Yeah, well … genetics._

Rachel was shaking her head to herself at the response as they headed for the beach resort Alex had suggested for them — for her — with rentable spaces with a little more privacy. "Well, that went well," she said.

"Yeah, that wasn't awkward at _all_ ," Bobby said with a roll of his eyes.

"My family is …" She waved her hand.

"Uptight? Yeah. In the genes," he teased. "At least it's confirmed in the genes and not in the jeans."

She rolled her eyes at him and lightly shrugged her shoulder against his. "It's a good thing you're not making those jokes in front of Alex — or, God forbid, my dad," she teased.

"Yeah, they'd hear that entirely wrong," he agreed.

She grinned. "Which is too bad. It's a good pun," she teased, pulling the suitcases along telekinetically behind them as she went. "I can turn him around if he tries to bother us if you want."

He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I can handle Alex," Bobby replied. "Not really too concerned about Scott either. Honestly."

"He's a pushover," Rachel promised with a laugh as she turned to face him and wrapped her arms around him to kiss him quickly. "Usually," she amended.

"I seem to have read that somewhere …"

She laughed at that and kissed him again before they turned their attention to checking into the resort and finding their beach house. "There's supposed to be rain this week — cold snap with the storm," she told him as they walked down the sandy trail hand in hand.

"That's okay," Bobby said with a smile. "Keep the tourist population down a little bit."

"That was my thought too," she said with a smile to match. "That and you look so sad and wilted when it gets too warm," she had to tease.

"Who, me?" he asked as his breath froze in the air in front of them. "Never."

"All wilted and sad," she teased, still grinning. "Such a melting little snowman."

"I think I might need margaritas to keep me from melting. Or … maybe that makes me melt faster. I should think through my options."

"Well, we can always find out," she said, grinning.

"As long as our first night here isn't with judgey Alex and the big doe eyes of Magda and ready to pop Lorna? I'm good."

"No, I _suggested_ that he wait until next weekend for a luau," Rachel told him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh. well. Are you suggesting anything right now?" he asked with a troublemaking grin.

She let out a little scoff. "Do you _need_ it?" she teased.

"Nope!" He scooped her up and carried her down the beach. "Why would I need that?"

She grinned that much wider as she rearranged herself to wrap her arms around his neck. "I have no idea. You're the one who brought it up."

"Well … you said you were suggesting things. So I suggested you might be suggesting other things — but I can see I was mistaken."

"Yeah, you got there all on your own," she laughed and quickly stole a kiss.

* * *

"Annie, I'm headed out," Scott said as he hung up his phone and reached for his shoes to start pulling them on. The kids were asleep by then, and he had just been talking to Alex before he had intended to go to bed, but...

"Where are you headed now?" she asked with a little frown.

"Just zipping over to Hawaii. Alex let me know there's a problem with Rachel, so…"

"Well, maybe I should go with you then, if there's a problem with Rachel …"

"No, it's a quick fix," Scott promised.

"What kind of fix is it?" she asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes just the slightest bit.

Scott narrowed his eyes to himself as he finished pulling on his boots. "He'll re-form."

"Hold it right there, mister," she said, her tone a little more stern. "What have you got in that head of yours?"

He let out a sigh at her tone. "Annie, do you know how much _older_ Bobby is than she is?" he asked. "He's _my_ age!"

Her eyebrows went up for a moment. "Well, alright … but if I understand it right … how old is she now? They're not that far apart, right?"

"Twenty years, Annie," he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well," she said, letting out a sigh. "That's more than I thought. But she is _still_ a grown woman."

"In her twenties," Scott argued.

"It just seems to me that you X-Men tend to need longer to grow up. The women, however …"

He gave her a dry look. "You don't… It's Bobby, Annie. He's been on the team longer than anyone but _me_."

"So you know better than anyone what kind of a person he is," she argued. "And if he wasn't a good person, he would not have been on the team for that long."

"She's _twenty-eight_ ," he said, exasperated.

"And by my count, just about every one of you heroes have married someone much younger," she pointed out. "Yourself included, Mr. Summers."

"That … that's different."

"How?" she challenged. "Are you under the false impression that my family wasn't thinking exactly the same thing? How old was I when we started up?"

"Annie…"

" _How old_ , Mr. Summers?"

Scott let out a breath. "Twenty-nine."

Annie smirked. "All of you boys are older than your women, it seems."

"It just… seems to happen that way," Scott said with a small sigh.

"Then what are you arguin' for?" she said with a little scoff. "It's not as big of a gap as Kurt and Kate have to contend with. And she wasn't even twenty five. Did you even blink at that?"

"It's _Rachel_ ," Scott argued.

"Who, if I understand it right, has been through a lot in life. She's older than her years," she pointed out. "If he makes her happy, what's the big deal?"

Scott rubbed a spot on the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly.

"Not everyone has the luxury of traipsin' around the world forever before they bump into someone they can love," she told him, starting to smile a little wider.

He glanced up at her for a moment and then almost did a double-take. "How long have you known about this, then?"

She smiled wider. "Long enough. Surprised you didn't see it yourself."

"I… it's not like I'd assume Bobby ... I mean…. She's my daughter, Annie. Other dimension or no."

She leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "You're awful cute when you're flustered."

He finally just had to shake his head at her and kissed her back. "When did you get so good at keeping secrets?" he teased.

"I got a good teacher," she replied with a grin.

"You'll be running the school at this rate; you don't even need me," he teased as he pulled his boots back off — since clearly, he wasn't going anywhere tonight.

"What fun would that be?" she asked.

"Right; then you wouldn't have time for the personal bakery you've made of the kitchen."

"I don't know; I might," she said, shaking her head as she sat down next to him. "That little feral has been pushing me out."

"She says it's pregnancy cravings," he said.

"My eye," Annie countered. "She makes it but doesn't eat it."

"How very rude of her," Scott laughed as he pulled her down. "Tell you what. We'll get you an actual bakery then."

"Is that you asking for cupcakes again?" she teased as she put her arms around his neck.

"It's me taking care of my wife — who is still very young and beautiful and hasn't aged a day," he said with a grin.

"And who very much wants to curl up and snuggle for the night," she replied.

"No Hawaii?" he had to tease.

"Not unless we're going for ourselves and not to bother them," she told him. "And I'd prefer that after the little one is here?"

"We could get away for Christmas," he said. "She'd be old enough then to let Alex babysit the kids for a day or two."

"That sounds perfect," she agreed, nodding and grinning outright before she pulled him into a much longer and more satisfying kiss.


	14. The Consequences of Showing Off

Sying had heard about Chance's karate lessons, and they sounded like a _lot_ of fun, so he had made up his mind that he wanted to see what they were like. He and Krissy — who wasn't about to let him go into trouble without her — made their way down to where Chance was with his dad and Logan, sneaking by climbing on the ceiling to watch from above.

It was Chance's turn to lead the kids in the next exercise — his favorite one, too. As the little ones practiced iron palms, both of them counted to ten in Japanese, and even Scott had to smirk at the determined look on Chance's face as he did his level best. " _Ichi - ni - san - shi - go - roku - shichi…"_

"He's doin' pretty well, honestly," Logan said quietly to Scott as he looked up at little Sying on the ceiling, who held up a finger to his lips as Krissy tried to stifle a giggle.

"He's been practicing hard," Scott said just as quietly.

As the two kids traded turns and Elin started to lead the charge, this time for blocking, again Logan tipped his head toward the ceiling after gently elbowing Scott.

"Don't see us!" Krissy whispered urgently, though she was giggling.

"It's too bad I don't," Logan said quietly to her. "You might be able to join them if you weren't so set on bein' silly."

Krissy and Sying glanced at each other and grinned, racing each other down — with Sying winning — and giggling excitedly. "Can we? Can we please?" Sying asked.

"Need to ask your parents," Logan insisted. "And you can't use anything you learn on any of the kids."

"This is only for bad guys," Chance agreed, chiming in with a grin.

Logan walked over to Chance and Elin and handed both of them a pair of bamboo sticks. "Okay. Go slow now," he told them before he stepped back to watch carefully with his arms crossed. Chance and Elin both smiled at each other before they started the exercise — no counting this time. Elin went high with her right, and Chance blocked, and then low on the right as the stick swung around naturally, both actions immediately followed by the same on the left, and so on until they were working at a good rhythm and Logan nodded, giving them permission to speed up as they went.

"That looks fun," Krissy sad with wide eyes. "I thought this was just hitting stuff, not _fun_. I wanna play!"

"Not playin', little Elf," Logan told her.

"It still looks fun," she said. "Sometimes work is fun! Mama likes arrows, so it's like playing. So…" She gestured with both hands as if this was perfectly flawless logic. "I wanna play."

"Talk to your parents," Logan replied. "No one works here until they get Mom or Dad down with 'em."

Sying and Krissy glanced at each other and broke out into huge grins. "Me first!" Krissy shouted, barreling toward the door and shoving Sying in the shoulder — which didn't actually move him but still had him looking betrayed before he sped ahead of her anyway.

Kurt and Krissy were the ones to get back first, though, as Kurt simply teleported down with his giggling little girl. "I win, I win," she chanted, still giggling as Kurt set her down and Sying got down only a few moments later, looking totally defeated.

"But I ran so hard," he said with his lower lip out.

"And she cheated so hard," Elin giggled as the stick exercise ended and she brushed her hair out of her face.

"But it was fun," Krissy said. She grinned and ran over to Logan with a troublemaking grin. "Papa says I can play."

"It's not playin'," Logan said calmly. "That's number one, darlin'."

She grinned up at him even wider. "Mama says I can play too."

"Well if you wanna _play,_ go play with her," he replied.

"Mama says you're too serious," she said with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm supposed to be serious," Logan replied before he shot Chance and Elin a wink. "They have a pretty good serious too."

"Do we _gotta_ be serious?" she asked.

"Yep," he replied with a nod. "You might get hurt or hurt someone else otherwise."

Krissy considered this for a moment before she looked up at Kurt, who nodded, and then at Sying, who was nodding just as seriously.

"Daddy says you gotta work hard sometimes to be safe," Sying said. "But also, I gotta work really hard anyway to be careful with my powers, so…" He shrugged and looked Logan's way. "I can be serious, I promise."

"Me too," Krissy said quickly, not about to be outdone by Sying.

"Krissy, why don't you pair up with Elin?" Logan said. "We'll start with somethin' you can probably do well." He looked over to Elin and Chance. "Falls."

As Kurt let out a scoff, Chance broke into a huge grin. "Yes!" He nodded a few times. "You'll like this, Krissy."

"Can I try too?" Sying asked hopefully.

Logan turned toward the door as Jubilee walked in, grinning and excited to see how the little ones were going to do. "Sure. Go by Chance," Logan said. "We're taking turns pushing each other over — but it's not a real push, got it?" He looked between the three adults there and shook his head. "Come on, Slim. We're up." The two adults demonstrated for the kids, showing them carefully and explaining how to fall and protect yourself right before they let the kids get started — and Scott of course helped to coach Sying and Chance through it as Logan went to the girls.

Jubilee made her way over to Kurt and bumped his shoulder. "Guess they don't want us showing them how to do it with _style_ , huh?"

"Maybe just a little," Kurt said with a little chuckle.

"Wanna do it anyhow?" Jubilee grinned. "I bet I can flip into a good backspring already."

Kurt's eyes were twinkling as he broke into a showman's bow. "With promises like that…" he teased.

The two of them waited at least until it was clear that the kids were falling into giggle fits of their own before they launched into their highly flashy routine — that very nearly looked planned. Kurt gave Jubilee a little push — which she dramatically over-acted into a handstand and a backspring — and Kurt met her where she landed in a cloud of smoke so she could push him. He tumbled backward and sprang up to finish on a handstand of his own — with both of them grinning.

Scott and Logan shared a dry look. "This is a beginner's class you two," Scott said in a slow and well-used drawl.

"I only teleported once," Kurt said as if this was perfectly reasonable.

"And you can't come back if you're gonna disrupt the kids either," Logan added.

"Yeah, Papa, you gotta be _serious_ ," Krissy said, which was not helped by how much she was giggling.

"Oh, then, I should look more serious when I do my handstands?" Kurt teased.

"You can only come back for sticks," Logan said with a teasing little smirk.

"And only because you need a partner, _mein Freund_ ," Kurt laughed.

"Scott does just fine," Logan replied.

Kurt shook his head at Logan. "You wound me, Wolverine," he teased.

"Not my fault you're rusty and I needed someone more reliable," Logan said airly.

"Rusty?" Kurt put a hand on his heart. " _Lacherlich._ Rusty. The very thought."

While Logan and Kurt were trading barbs, though, the kids were still giggling with each other about the lesson and about how silly Sying and Krissy's parents were.

"I can spin too," Sying insisted to Krissy, who was still giggling and had half an eye on the ongoing back and forth between Kurt and Logan.

"I can spin too," Krissy agreed, twirling a little circle.

"That's not how your dad does it," Chance pointed out.

"Well, I don't know how to do it upside down yet," Krissy admitted, frowning and tugging at the tip of one ear.

"You gotta push your arms," Sying nodded. "I see my mom teaching it in her class, and you gotta push real hard and then spin but… but spin upside down."

"Did your mom teach you how to spin upside down?" Chance asked curiously.

Sying scuffed one foot. "Not _really_ ," he admitted. "But I see it. I know _how_." He took a deep breath and rushed to the wall so he could climb halfway up it and then put his hands on the ground so he could try to do a handstand. He was strong enough to do it, but when he bent his arms and pushed off _hard_ and tried to spin ... he went sideways and managed to put his entire foot through the wall.

And immediately started crying.

The sound stopped all teasing that was going on, and the four adults turned to see the damage. Jubilee let out a curse as she and Logan rushed over to the little guy — with Kurt and Scott not far behind them.

The kids were half shouting all at once with explanations—

"He hurt his foot!" Krissy was saying while Chance was a little clearer: "He did a really good handstand though."

Logan was holding the little guy up so he wasn't twisted in such an awkward position. "Elf—"

Kurt was there in an instant, and a moment later, the three of them and Jubilee were in Hank's lab with one very hurt little boy now free of the wall and crying on the crook of Logan's elbow.

"What happened?" Hank asked, abandoning his current experiment to see what had happened with the little guy.

"Showin' off gone wrong," Logan summarized.

"He kicked a hole in the wall," Jubilee added, gently patting down Sying's hair as he hiccoughed little breaths.

Hank gently took Sying over to the X-ray machine, and with a little gentle encouragement, he got a few good pictures before he brought him right back to Jubilee and Logan. The verdict was quick. "Broken, of course," Hank said.

"How badly?" Jubilee asked. "Can you have Tyler fix him quickly, or is it different with Kree?" she added, honestly concerned as she thought about it.

"Tyler has helped Noh before," Hank assured her. "He'll be by shortly. In the meantime, I can give him something to relax and take the edge off."

"Please," she said with a little nod.

Hank gave her a little reassuring smile before he came back with something that didn't look exactly like what Noh got from the good doctor. "Not as strong," Hank assured her.

Jubilee nodded and sat down next to the sniffling little boy to explain that Tyler was going to fix his foot for him, though Sying was watching Hank. "My dad gets blue stuff," he sniffled.

"Your dad has nanites that you do not," Hank replied. "So the only blue stuff you can have here is a sucker. But only if you make sure your mother hides her eyes while I get it."

Sying considered this and then nodded. "Okay, Mom, you have to not look so I can get the good sucker."

Jubilee sniffled out a little laugh and very carefully closed and covered her eyes. "Is that good enough?"

"If Dr. Fuzzy says it is, then I get a _blue raspberry,"_ Sying said. He paused. "And one for my friends too? They got scared too."

Hank smiled their way and returned with two suckers — both of them blue raspberry.

Sying beamed as he took both of the suckers in his hand. "Thank you, Dr. Fuzzy."

"You're very welcome," Hank said as Logan and Jubilee got the little guy settled in.

It was only a few more minutes before Tyler arrived, and by that time, Sying was fairly dopey. Tyler wasn't alone, though, and Noh ran to Jubilee with a look of concern while Tyler got the rundown from Hank.

Noh gave his little boy a kiss on the forehead as Sying sucked happily on his blue raspberry sucker, though Noh frowned over the top of his head, thinking something over clearly as Tyler joined the little group.

"Can I hold your hand, Sying?" Tyler asked, and Sying nodded, still sucking happily as he held out his hand.

While Tyler fixed Sying right up, Noh slipped over to where Hank was so he could look over the X-rays for himself. The fuzzy blue doctor watched him for a moment as he poured over the results before, finally, Noh let out a breath. "Of course," he said, shaking his head. "I didn't even think about the lack of compensation." He looked up at Hank, still looking almost surprised at himself. "I can use my enhanced strength and other such abilities without injuring myself only because the nanites work faster than my pain receptors. I don't even know they fix the damage I do when I hit something."

"How old were you when you were given the nanites?" Hank asked.

"They were part of my systems before I was — well, if you can use the word 'born' for a growth chamber," Noh said with a sheepish look.

"Then it's perfectly understandable why you wouldn't think of it right away," Hank said. "It's not something that you control — not those functions anyhow."

"And I had hoped not to introduce them into Sying's system at all, considering the timeline Jubilee and I visited with Miss Hill running things," Noh admitted, running a hand through his hair.

Hank let out a little chuckle. "Yet once again you've overlooked a simple solution," the furry blue doctor said. "What about asking your ex-teammate if it should be done? He would not be the first super-powered individual to not have structural reinforcements if it's not favorable."

Noh couldn't help but let out a little laugh. "Yes, you're right; I didn't even think of Billy," he admitted. He looked over to where Sying was giggling with Tyler and Jubilee now that his foot was all healed. "As ever, you give the best advice, good doctor," he added with a little smile.

* * *

Noh had called ahead about the project that he wanted some help with, though Tony was pleasantly surprised when Noh was willing to do the whole thing at Stark Industries — finally relaxing a little about letting Tony get his hands on Kree technology, since "you've already seen most of it anyway in this regard."

Not that Tony was going to do much pushing, anyway, not when Noh had explained the concept. Trying to make sure that cute little white-haired kid didn't break himself with his own powers — pretty important stuff.

Noh had come prepared, too, with not only everything he had on his own nanites but a whole host of information from an alternative timeline in which Maria Hill had been in charge that frankly sounded to Tony like it was the _worst_ — as well as notations on how to avoid running into those problems with _this_ project.

Basically, Noh had come with a whole list of requirements they had to hit _just right_ before he'd even think about putting it in his little boy.

And Tony ... Tony had his own thoughts, not just on the programming itself but on specifics Pepper had suggested. Like an alert system if the nanites found something compromising like poison or drugs — up to a certain age. Tony was thinking he'd phase those out at around, sixteen. Let the kid live a little. His liver could heal faster than he could do real damage anyway.

It took the two of them next to no time to get set up as Tony got some AC/DC on the speakers, dancing along with his head bobbing as he looked over the specs.

"So, I think … to make this whole process work a little faster, I would _like_ to get a few samples to compare to the specs," Tony said over the music.

Noh looked surprised for a moment before he nodded. "Alright," he said slowly. "That shouldn't be a problem. I can wash a few for you…"

"I promise to incinerate everything when I'm done," Tony swore.

Noh let out a breath. "That would be best," he agreed. "Especially as they tend to bond to the nearest organic matter if you don't deactivate them properly." He pulled down a few specs on the table to look them over as well. "I do appreciate your help on this. There isn't anyone else I can ask — except perhaps Forge, but he is with his favorite ladies for the summer, and I didn't want to disturb him."

Tony nodded distractedly, already getting into the swing of the project in front of him. "No problem," he said.


	15. Uncle Phil

From the second Clint walked into the mansion, it was go, go, go. Gerry and Zoe both wanted to meet up with their friends to play, and they had a hold of each of his hands dragging him down the hallways that they already had memorized all the way down to where the kids were gathered, getting lathered up with sunscreen and water wings.

"Estranged work husband," K sang out in place of hello when she saw Clint. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Other, shorter wife!" Clint called back with a grin.

"Where have you been lately?" she asked. "It's been downright _boring_ around here."

"Well, Nat's been grumpier than usual this time around," Clint said with a little laugh. "She says it's because we're having a boy instead of something _easier_."

"Well … I can see that," she said with her head tipped to the side. "I was ready to cry more often than not with James."

Clint nodded. "She was having an 'everyone leave me alone' day, so it was time for a family field trip. Jess is taking her to the spa."

"Oh, good," she said with a little smirk. "How long are you going to stick around? Coffee for sure, right? I have some fresh peaches …as both bribe and thanks for helping out the girls with the kids while we zip off for a few days up north. I really really do appreciate it."

"Say no more," Clint chuckled. "Besides, we'll be around; trying to separate Zoe and Kari when they're on a roll is just impossible before bedtime anyway."

"Well it's good to do that," K said. "Big news of the day, of course … Annie and I both have our opinions on the better cobbler/pie situation. So we have both. Super bribes ..."

"Seriously. How are you not all bowling balls by now?"

"I don't really eat much of it myself," K admitted. "More about the scent to me than anything."

Clint laughed as he followed K toward the kitchen for coffee, letting Gerry and Zoe mob their Aunt Katie for attention anyway. "Right. And about being right. Can't let Annie win," he teased.

"It's good for her to get riled from time to time," K said.

"She's a Summers now," he pointed out. "All my intel points to the fact that it's gonna happen anyway."

"So … by virtue of who we're both married to, it's my _duty_ to pick at her?" She nodded slowly. "I'm on board."

Clint laughed at that as he went to the cabinet to pull down a couple mugs and saluted her with them both in one hand. "Flawless logic."

K smiled his way as he got their coffee. "So, what can you use for the little guy? I'm sure the tiny bow has already been commissioned."

"Oh, absolutely," he chuckled. "And the all-black onesie so he can match Mom. The whole nine."

"Bandages?"

"Don't jinx him _that_ early. C'mon. Let him learn to crawl first."

"Hey. Genetics."

"I'm hoping he takes after Nat," Clint said with a shrug. "Zoe…" He looked toward the door that led outside, where the kids were starting to play in the sprinklers now. "She has this perpetual bruise right at the level of her eyes. Runs into things, trying to keep up with the bigger kids. She had the glare down when she was a baby, but the older she gets, the more she's like me..."

"I swear to God, I won't make a joke about not seeing it coming," K teased.

"It just happens to be that she's at that height. Chairs are eye level. She's not tall enough to hit tables yet."

"Yet."

"I got the full blame for every one of Gerry's bruises. I know it's coming."

"Oh, I'm sure," she agreed. "Has Wade gotten to you yet? He was a little … excitable there for a while."

"Yeah, I heard about Ellie," Clint said with a wide grin. "How's that going, by the way?"

"Scott's been working with her, and she's starting to be able to consciously control it," K said with a nod. "We'll have to wait for Rachel to know if it's permanent — the more translucent situation. She hasn't been able to fully go opaque."

"She'll fit in great at Wade's place. It's fulla ghosts," Clint said. "There was a naked Ben Franklin last time I visited."

"That's what he was saying," K said, cringing at the mental picture. "The ghosts … not … the naked … historical figures."

"Yeah, it's an experience," Clint said, shaking his head. "But hey, if she was gonna have powers, best powers for her to have, right? He's always saying he's trying to keep her hidden from his enemies."

"I am partial to my own power set?" K said. "But for her, it seems to be a great fit, yes."

"I got the full earful for about two hours when he came by," Clint said, laughing. "The Proud Dad Strut went on and on. It was great."

"He's a good guy," K replied with a little smirk. "When he's not actively being a moron."

"You just gotta remind him sometimes," Clint agreed, leaning back in his chair.

The two of them had just gotten to the second round of coffee when there was a knock at the door. Someone else got it at the front, though whoever it was came through and poked his head in the kitchen — and Phil Coulson broke into a wide, honest-to-goodness grin when he saw the two of them there, shocking Clint into putting all four chair legs on the ground.

"I didn't know you were coming over," K said as she made her way over to the SHIELD agent and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "How are you still _in?_ "

"When it works, it works," Coulson replied, returning the hug with a smile. When she finally let him go, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and pulled him into the kitchen by the hand.

"Come have some coffee. I haven't seen you in forever."

"I didn't know you guys… were… hugging," Clint finally managed, staring between the two of them.

The two of them shared a look, and Coulson gave her a look that clearly said it was up to her how much to disclose.

"Phil … helped me out when I slipped loose of Weapon X … the first time," K explained. "I was clear that I didn't want to be in the same setup with SHIELD, and considering the climate at the time …"

"I agreed that SHIELD wasn't ready to take on their own personal feral ex-weapon," Coulson finished.

"That…" Clint shook his head. "I'd say I can't believe it, but I almost can."

"Fury was focused on getting Logan to join up, and for a while there … it looked like it might work," Coulson said. "I didn't think she needed the stress."

"Which is good, because the way he was so … antsy about Weapon X and mutants at the time, I would have absolutely killed him," K said before she pointed at herself. "No warm, fuzzy, shared war experiences to temper it with."

"Yeah, and now I'm glad we met when we did, because I'd hate to hear what you thought about the Avengers," Clint said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Another reason to keep her off of _everyone's_ radar," Coulson said, smirking as he stirred his coffee. "She had been giving Natasha fits for months. It likely would have been ugly."

"Yeah, Nat can be mean," Clint joked.

"Even more so when she couldn't do her job right because of a particularly good agent on the other side," Coulson said giving him a look. "I'm sure you remember that stretch of time. Notes in various places … sometimes just a little 'hi'."

"Yeah, I remember," Clint said with a nod. "She wasn't happy. It wasn't fun." He looked K's way. "Thanks, K. Retroactively? I blame you."

"Hey," she defended. "Last mission I ran for them was one that she _very nearly_ busted me. Almost. I even had to poison myself to kill the guy. It was kind of miserable."

"Sounds rough. The _almost_ being busted by her," Clint deadpanned. "You know I was the sparring partner she put on the ground when she was mad right?"

"Oops. Retroactively," K replied with a little shrug that had Coulson chuckling before she turned his way. "What are you doing here anyhow?"

"Actually, I'm here to pick up Eleanor," Coulson said.

"So … is this going to be a regular thing, then?" K asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Coulson laughed. "I just know I got a message on my desk that Deadpool was doing something — couldn't get back in time — asked me to come get her."

K gestured to the kids playing outside. "Well, she usually prefers to stick around when the gang shows up. Hang out with the bigger kids and watch over the little ones. You should stay for dinner."

"I'd love to," Coulson said with a little smile.

"And we're sure he's not a Skrull?" Clint laughed.

"Why would you say that?" K asked, scrunching up her nose at him.

"He's … you… I didn't know Phil _did_ … this."

"You … didn't know that he _helped_ people?" K asked. "Even when it wasn't for SHIELD's benefit?" Both of them were giving Clint a look that bordered on expectant and confused.

Clint held up both hands. "No, _that_ I believe. It's the domestic, laughing Phil thing that's freaking me out."

"I followed up on where I hid her," Coulson replied. "Made sure no one was bothering her and that she was settling in with no Weapon X-related issues."

"No, no, I get that part too. That's very you," Clint said, then shook his head. "Just ... never mind. I'll get past it."

The three of them sat down for coffee and could see out the window as the kids were all playing in the sprinklers, and it was another little while before Eleanor did, in fact, come downstairs with Jana and Leslie Ann — all three girls grinning and laughing together.

"Oh, hi, Uncle Phil," Eleanor said with a grin.

Coulson gave her a warm smile and a wave. "I'm told we're staying for dinner," Coulson told her.

"Oh, good!" Eleanor beamed. "It's Wolverine's turn to cook, so it should be good."

"He killed a bunch of pheasants," K said. "It's been a while since we did that."

"Sometimes he does seafood, but…" Leslie Ann shrugged. "We probably won't get that again until like… October."

"Anniversary sushi run," K half sang.

"And leave the rest of us out?" Leslie Ann asked, sounding betrayed. "I _love_ sushi!"

"Oh yeah, no one's going along for that," K said with a smile.

Leslie Ann let out all her breath. "Alright, but I _do_ want to go see Japan again. It was fun. You know. Except for the ninjas."

"The ninjas are the fun part," K argued.

"Only if you're prepared for them," Leslie Ann pointed out. "I did throw a bunch of them across a block, though."

"I'm sure he made sure you were safe," she said. "He was probably more stressed about it than you were."

Leslie Ann nodded at that as the girls all joined the table, with Jana grabbing a few snacks in the meantime. "So… is something going on?" Jana asked at last. "Some kind of SHIELD something or…?" She gestured at Coulson with her head tipped to the side.

"That's my Uncle Phil," Eleanor said.

"Sweetest SHIELD agent in the whole agency," K agreed with a smirk Coulson's way.

Coulson shook his head at that but leaned forward to offer Jana his hand. "Phil Coulson, special agent of SHIELD."

Jana raised an eyebrow at him but carefully shook his hand. "Jana. Junior X-Man."

He smiled pleasantly her way. "Pleasure to meet you."

"He's so underselling himself," K said Jana's way. "He's like … 80% of the reason Fury isn't dead."

"70%," Coulson said with a smirk.

"Right. Logan is the other ten," she agreed with a smile.

"Well, maybe you should add another ten for the fact that Maria Hill would be in charge otherwise," Clint pointed out.

"Oh, no," K said, shaking her head. "I'd have killed her too." She turned Coulson's way dramatically. "I still can. You can run that thing."

"No thanks," Coulson laughed, holding up both hands. "Not really my thing."

"I liked Clay too," K admitted. "Is he still making sure Nick looks good?"

"Always," Coulson said with a smirk.

"Typical," Jana said, leaning back and shaking her head. "Two best friends I make in this place are related to the fuzz."

"Well, it oughta keep you from being a dumbass," K replied. "The threat of being hauled up to the helicarrier."

"It's more fun if you go on your own," Eleanor said with a grin.

"True story," K agreed.

"Pretty sure they mean going willingly? Not infiltrating it," Coulson said K's way.

"Potato, po-tah-toe," K shrugged.

"No, I gotta agree with the other wife. The sneaking into Fury's place to carve him messages. Way more fun," Clint said.

K was smiling his way and biting her bottom lip. "Been a while. Might need to do that just to see if he's upgraded his security."

"Can I make any requests on the message content?" Clint asked.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" she asked.

He leaned forward with a crooked grin and dropped his voice to a whisper only she could hear. "Ask me when Nat has the baby."

"Why not tell me now?" she asked, clearly intrigued.

"Because you can't carve 'you're a godfather' until _after_ he's a godfather," Clint said, grinning wider. "Nat's idea."

"Well. I'll just do it as soon as it happens then," K said with a nod. "I'll have mine first probably anyhow, and I'll be good to go within hours."

"Yeah, that's what I hear," Clint said. "Nat's jealous."

"I'll just consider it my duty when she's ready," K promised.

"I appreciate it," Clint said, leaning back with a grin as he looked over at Coulson. "Act surprised when Fury looks like he can't decide if he's mad or not."

"I didn't hear a thing," Coulson said with a smirk.

"And you didn't read my lips either," Clint laughed.

"I was … preoccupied watching the adorable kids outside."

"Exactly."

Jana grinned. "I think I like this one," she told Eleanor, who just laughed.

"Because he's Phil," she said, and Coulson simply shrugged lightly, perfectly at ease as the three teenage girls went into fits of laughter the more Eleanor and Leslie Ann compared their respective law enforcement relative stories.


	16. Surprise Arrival

A few weeks in Hawaii had turned into a month before Rachel and Bobby had even realized it, so that on top of the way Alex had been acting when he saw them off to the airport combined meant Rachel was sure her dad was going to read her the riot act once they landed.

She wasn't really sorry. At all.

It had been a great vacation all around. Alex really did have some great suggestions for not only beaches but a few caves and mountains to explore — and the lagoon that last few days had been _perfect_.

And just like she'd done with Alex when they started off their vacation, Rachel beat Scott to the punch here. _Don't start,_ she warned — though that wasn't really going to do a thing.

"I thought you were just going out for a couple weeks," he started out.

"It turned into more," she shrugged.

Scott raised an eyebrow at her but then glared Bobby's way. _Don't start_ went entirely ignored. "And when were you planning on _telling me_ about any of this?"

"I wasn't aware I had to inform you of everything I did," Bobby replied. "What happened to, you know … not being kids?"

"Bobby, you're _my_ age," Scott pointed out.

" _I_ … am a year younger," Bobby defended weakly.

"One." Scott crossed his arms over his chest. "One year."

"What are you getting at, Scott?" Bobby asked. "It's not a terrible thing. Really."

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "You — you can't just go dating my _daughter!_ Behind my back!"

"Hey, we haven't been sneaking around; you just … haven't been paying attention," Bobby replied.

Scott glared at Bobby and looked like he was just getting ready to start up again when Annie poked in with his cell phone in hand. It was enough of a distraction to get him to pause, and she just walked right up to him to press it into his chest. "You've got a call," she said, then turned to Bobby and Rachel. "Did you two have a nice trip?"

"It was _lovely_ ," Bobby said her way with a genuinely friendly smile. "Thank you so much for asking. How are you feeling, Miss Annie?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she said with a little laugh as Scott got totally distracted by whoever was on the other line.

"Did we miss anything earth-shattering?" Bobby asked.

"Powers changing, visiting SHIELD agents, but nothing earth-shattering," Annie said with a smile.

"That … sounds … normal-ish," Bobby said, his head tipped to the side. "All things considered. So where is everyone?"

"Well, it's still summer, and school starts up in a few weeks, so last minute vacations… family trips…" Annie shrugged lightly. "I think everyone needed a break. The Wagners should be back from Winzeldorf at the end of the week."

Scott hung up the phone and looked genuinely upset as he turned back to the others. "Bobby, tell Hank to get Steve Rogers to cover Logan's classes," he said before he gave Annie's hand a quick squeeze on his way past. "I've gotta go."

"Wait — you're gonna switch from yelling at me to sending me on errands?" Bobby asked with a frown. "What gives?"

"Logan and K are in Canada. K went into labor early," Scott explained over his shoulder, already on his way out.

* * *

When Scott got to the hospital, he wasn't surprised to find that Mac Hudson was stationed outside, clearly keeping an eye out for trouble — and when he saw Tyler before Scott, he was tense for a second before he saw Scott as well.

"Yeah, I get that reaction a lot," Tyler said.

"You have no idea how crazy it's been," Mac said, letting out a breath. "The whole team has been keeping watch. Which is something else when you consider everything."

"Well, good reason," Scott said with a small nod. "How are they? Tyler's in his last year of med school — and he can heal — if you need a hand…"

Mac shook his head slowly. "She's _tiny_."

"She's here then?" Tyler asked with a broad grin. "Last we heard, she was still in labor."

"Just barely four pounds," Mac said. "Heather … is _fiercely_ protecting both of them. All three of them, really. But the little one … she's gotta stay for a while. She's just too small."

"Well, genetics ... and then this early…" Tyler said with a nod.

Mac nodded, though he looked Tyler up and down once more. "Go ahead. I'll stay here."

"Thanks," Scott said with a little nod as the two of them passed on inside — and when they got to the room where Logan and K were staying, both of them were shocked to see how _small_ the little girl was. Hearing about it was one thing, but…

"Who tipped you off?" Logan asked, obviously surprised to see Scott there.

"Mac," Scott admitted.

"Here to take Elin and James back?" Logan asked.

"And offer any help if you needed it, but… it looks like you're alright," Tyler said, grinning widely.

"I think it's more of a security concern than anything," Logan said honestly.

"I can stay on," Scott said.

Tyler glanced Scott's way and then shrugged. "Yeah, I can fly the kids back. You know Tammy'll spoil 'em rotten."

Logan gestured over to where K was sleeping — snuggled up with both Elin and James. "Might have to wait a while."

"Oh no," Tyler said straight faced. "I guess I'll have to stay and say hi to the little one."

Logan shook his head at that and turned to find a chair. "Well, good luck. Heather sees you, she might attack."

"Good point," Tyler said.

Almost on cue, Heather came in, very gently holding the little girl, though she stopped when she saw the two new X-Men in the room. "Oh no. They're not going anywhere," she said, shaking her head as she frowned at them.

Tyler raised his hand with a little smile. "Yeah," he said. "I get that a lot."

"Yeah, and that's just a big no for you," she said, glaring his way before she turned to Scott. "Why … who told you to show up?"

"Mac called to let me know what was going on," Scott explained.

"Well," Heather said, looking down to smile at the tiny bundle of girl. "I think they should spend the year up here."

"I thought it would only take a few weeks tops," Scott said with a frown.

Heather smirked up at him. "No no, at least a year. Maybe two."

Scott shook his head at her, arms crossed. "Yeah, no."

"Why no?" Heather challenged. "You've had them forever. My turn."

"They're teaching at the school," he said. "And they're on _my_ team."

Logan was shaking his head, an amused smirk on his face watching the little showdown. "Hand her over to him, Heather," he said. "You've had your turn."

"Such a rotten timeshare," Heather said with a false anger as she shifted to very gently hand the new baby girl to Scott.

Scott shifted so he could take the tiny little girl — suddenly wide-eyed as he tried to be as gentle as possible. "She's even smaller than she looks," he muttered.

"We'll be a couple weeks," Logan said. "Regardless of what Heather says."

Scott looked up at him and smirked. "Right. I've got Cap on your class for a few weeks."

"You know he won't leave until he meets her, right?" Logan said.

"He'll probably just stay through September," Scott chuckled. "Considering the other six due at the beginning of the month."

Logan let out a sigh. "Well. That's one anyhow."

"What's her name, anyway?" Tyler asked.

"Sadie," Logan replied. "Apparently, it was one that Coulson suggested. K liked it."

"It's a good name," Scott agreed.

"Sit down," K said suddenly from the other side of the room. "You can spare ten minutes, right?"

"For you?" Scott smirked, already carefully taking a seat. "You did great. She's amazing."

"Are you crazy?" K replied. "I did horrible … waaaay too early."

Tyler had to smirk. "Yeah. How'd that go? The leaving for the middle of nowhere so close to the due date."

"Well … we _should_ have had time," K replied. "And she was small enough that we didn't quite make it to surgery… so I guess... Okay."

"She's still tiny," Scott said, grinning down at her.

K smirked up at Scott and resettled herself in the bed a little. "Look at her hands and feet, Scott."

Scott did just that, gently picking up one tiny hand with the edge of his pinkie as he just grinned that much wider.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tyler whispered, leaning Logan's way, "a preview of days to come."

When Scott looked back over at K, she was holding her cell phone up and quickly gave him an innocent look. "Nothing."

"Right," he said, shaking his head. He let out a little breath and looked like he might say something more — until he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket. "You sent it to Annie, didn't you?"

"May-be," she said. "I also saved the still as my wallpaper." She grinned sedately. "You get to send it to Kurt, though. He doesn't know yet."

"You're gonna put Pete out of a job," Tyler teased.

"You haven't even seen it yet," K told him as she handed him the phone so he could.

Tyler just grinned that much wider when he saw it. "See? Pete's got problems."

"I don't think so," she said as James woke up and looked around the room. He grinned when he saw Tyler and gave him a sleepy little wave.

"Hey, buddy," Tyler grinned his way, returning the wave. "You and Elin want to come back with me and watch Natasha's face when she hears the news?"

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding tiredly.

"Not until you meet Sadie too," K said. "But I'm not breaking up that love fest." She gave Scott a little smile.

"Hey, I was told by the redhead I'm not allowed," Tyler said with a smirk.

"Well, see where that got you?" K said. "Now you have to wait until Scott's had enough. So … you don't get to even touch her until she's old enough to run away from him."

Tyler just laughed. "Yeah, but you're assuming she'd ever want to leave the love fest."

"I … assume nothing in this scenario," she defended. But Scott's decision was made for him as Elin climbed down and made her way over to Scott.

She didn't say a word; instead, she very carefully kissed her baby sister's forehead and gave Scott a look that clearly read 'my turn'.

Scott let out a little half laugh and gently scooted over so that Tyler could take the little Sadie— who fit in one of his hands easily — and Scott could scoop up Elin.

Tyler _very_ carefully sat down with the tiny baby. "She… alright," he said, trying to figure out how to not totally encompass the little girl in his much larger arms.

"Now _that_ is something that I never thought I'd see," Heather said in the doorway. "A _Creed_ holding one of yours _nicely_?"

"Ty's alright," Logan replied. "Stop tryin' to jinx it. We're goin' back to New York."

"You got a picture of that too, though, right?" Scott asked K with a little smirk.

"You bet," she said before she handed Scott the phone this time.

Scott grinned at the picture and handed it back. "Great shot."

"Sorry to have you come out for nothing," K said.

"It really isn't nothing," Scott said with a smile. "She's amazing. I'm glad we got to meet her."

"Still, I'm sure you'd rather have stayed with Annie. We'll be back eventually."

"She's with Rachel," Scott said, then paused and added, "And Bobby," as he rubbed a spot on his forehead.

"Scott," K said, sitting up a little straighter and holding her arms out. "You need a hug."

Scott almost paused except for the 'go on' look Elin was giving him, so he let out a breath of a laugh. "You're the one who just had a baby," he said as he gently leaned over to give her a hug.

"Yes, but I'm already all healed up — tired, but healed," she pointed out. "And _you_ … looked like you needed it."

"He's been like that all morning," Tyler said, glancing up from Sadie with a crooked grin.

"Is this about them dating?" K asked. "Because I really thought you were okay with it for as long as it's been going on."

" _How long_ is that?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Months," K said. "Not a year yet … but we're getting there. They've been taking it slow, by all accounts."

"They just spent a month in Hawaii," Scott grumbled, rubbing his forehead again.

"Yeah? Well … I can tell you for a fact he's been dragging his feet, not wanting to push her … at all."

"He's _my_ age, K," Scott said.

"Does that mean they don't deserve to be happy if that's what they want?" she asked.

"I knew him when he was a teenager. I've seen just about every love life disaster he's had. I think I have a right to be worried," Scott pointed out.

"And he's too old," K said, nodding her head. "What's the cutoff age for happiness?"

Scott rubbed his forehead again. "Look. I'm just trying to take care of Rachel. I didn't get to before, alright?"

"I get it," she agreed, looking completely open as she nodded. "You're beating yourself up over what a different reality you did. And trying to fix _his_ mistakes."

"He's not that far different from me. And she's still mine."

"But he is different," she pointed out. "And …. If you're entirely sure that he's going to hurt her, I'll put him down for you."

Scott let out a sigh and shook his head. "I appreciate the offer."

"I mean it," she said. "Can't have that dirty old man messing around with that sweet little redhead."

"K," Scott let out a sigh. "Stop."

"What? Backing you up? Never."

Scott just shook his head again, leaning back. "Besides," he said after a long pause, "you and I both know she could fry him if she wanted."

"Yeah, but that's not the point," K insisted. "It's the principle of the thing. You're _right._ He's really way too old for her. That gap is completely unacceptable."

"It… it's just that it's _Bobby_ ," Scott said, shaking his head at her.

"Oh, I've heard the stories. The crap he pulled. Unforgivable, right? Frozen pipes, snowball fights… And I heard about when Mystique took advantage of him. He should have seen that coming, right?"

"Hey." Scott leaned forward with a glare. "Lay off."

K schooled the smile she wanted to let him see for just a moment longer, knowing how close he could be to getting it. "Yeah, but … it's _Bobby._ Right? Sweet, playful, throw himself in front of a train Bobby."

"Yeah, alright, yeah, yeah," Scott grumbled.

"You know he'd rather sink into the earth than hurt her, right?" K asked. "Or to hurt _you_."

"Yeah," Scott let out a sigh and gestured wordlessly.

"Sorry about that whirlwind trip," she said with a little smile. "But … I had you defending him."

"I don't hate the guy," Scott said, holding up his hands. "And that jab was too far."

"I know. I didn't want to go there," she admitted. "But you can be stupid protective in all the wrong ways." She gestured to Logan. "Look at how mad you were when I started in with that one."

"I read your file," he pointed out.

"And you were afraid I was gonna take your teammate out," she said. "Even though you knew damn well he could take care of himself."

"I should have stayed with Annie," he muttered, leaning back against the wall as Elin grinned up at him.

"Why? Because the truth hurts?" Heather asked. "You were ready to fight me over them staying longer than a few weeks."

Scott gave her a dry look. "At least with Annie the arguments are more fun."

"Well, since no one has pointed it out, I will," K said. "The gap with Rachel and Bobby is the same as the one between Logan and I. So it's not the gap. It's the threat."

"Yeah, Annie already reminded me about Kate and Kurt; she beat you there."

"Oh, they are an _out-of-control_ huge gap," K teased.

"Which reminds me," Scott said, smirking her way. "Annie didn't tell me about Bobby either. Thanks, K, for teaching my wife how to keep secrets. That's really helpful."

K looked honestly sorry for just a split second. "She really did need a poker face," she defended. "Which … she's really good at now too. By the way."

"Yeah, I want to thank you for the cleaning out as well," he smirked.

"She left you a consolation prize, Slim," Logan said. "She really meant it earlier … you get to tell Kurt that you knew first. _And_ got to meet her first."

Scott laughed. "Can you send me that picture? The one of me and Sadie."

"Picture or video?" K asked. "I have both."

"Both. I'll send them on to Kate and Kurt."

"And time how long it takes for him to call you when he can't find us at the house?" Logan laughed.

"I give it five minutes tops," Tyler said.

K picked up her phone and turned the screen Scott's way. "Done. It's all yours. I'll run the timer. Tyler, hand her back to Scott, please. So he's not lying when he tells Kurt he has her."

"I'd give it ten minutes," Scott said diplomatically. "Depending on if he's near his phone."

"Two," Logan said with a nod. "He's got his phone close. He's paranoid."

The group of them were grinning as they timed it from when Scott sent the message, and Tyler laughed when the telltale _buzz_ of the phone sounded four minutes in. "Close," he said.

 _Where are you_? Kurt asked before Scott could even say hello.

"Canada," Scott said. "I can text you the coordinates."

"Text him another picture," K whispered.

Scott smirked her way and sent the picture of Tyler with Sadie. "You get it?" he asked Kurt a moment later.

K was grinning widely and trying not to laugh outright as Kurt sputtered into the phone. _Where. Are. You?_

Scott's smirk just kept widening, though he did finally text the coordinates, and Kurt appeared in a poof of smoke a moment later.

"What took you so long, Elf?" Logan teased.

"I didn't know where to look, and you know it!" Kurt said, shaking his head before he teleported just behind Scott so he could see the little one. " _Ich bin dran_ ," he said, scooping the little girl up to press a little kiss to her forehead. "She is darling."

"Oh, you say that to all the babies," K said with a little wave.

"And I mean it every time," Kurt insisted.

"Her name is Sadie," Logan told him, since he knew it might take a while for Kurt to get there on his own when he was trying to assert possession against Scott.

" _Guten abend,_ Sadie," Kurt said to the little girl with a grin.

"We won't be back for a few weeks," Logan told him. "So it's up to you to deal with Angry Tasha. Good luck."

"Oh, no; I leave that to Clint," Kurt laughed. " _I_ have to deal with Kate."

"Yeah, she was thinking it would be like … two weeks tops between little ones," K said with a nod. "Sorry. I guess I got out of it a little early."

"She simply decided she needed the space," Kurt teased. "It's in her genes."

"Yes. She was taking up way too much real estate," she agreed. "If it makes it easier, you can tell Kate and Natasha that _I_ need the hospital stay more than she does."

Kurt grinned at her and then turned his attention back to the little one. "Well, naturally. You both worked so hard, and she was so impatient."

"Could you bring her godparents in for us?" Logan said, catching Kurt's attention suddenly.

Kurt glanced up and reflexively held the little girl closer. "Now?"

"You can hold her again when you get back," Logan said. "No transdimensional travel for her until she can breathe better."

Kurt's shoulders dropped slightly, and he let out a breath of longsuffering. "You are missing out, little one," he teased Sadie before he handed her to K and brushed off his hands on his pant leg. "Fine. Yes. Who am I getting?"

Logan took the few steps closer and leaned in to whisper the names to Kurt. "They have no idea."

Kurt broke out into a _huge_ , sloppy grin. "I won't tell," he swore before he disappeared in a poof of blue.

"He's a little imp," K said as Heather complained about the smoke.

"Gets it honestly," Tyler smirked.

"Yeah, but he just embodies it so well."

Hardly five minutes had passed before there was a telltale _bamf_ — outside the room — and then another _bamf._ Kitty could be heard shouting Kurt's name in obvious surprise as he disappeared to get the second guest of honor.

"Come in here, Kitten," Logan called out, mostly to get her to settle down.

Kitty had just barely opened the door when there was another _bamf_ , though this time Kurt appeared right in the doorway with Peter Parker in tow — who had clearly gotten much less warning than Kitty had; he was still cringing and totally lost on what had just happened.

"No rushing ahead, _Katja_ ," Kurt said in a mock severe tone.

But Kitty had already clued in to where she was - and heard Logan — so she just walked right through him with her nose in the air. "Excuse you," she said as she strutted her way over and then _beamed_ at the little girl. "I thought you weren't due til the end of the month! She's so _tiny_!"

"I wasn't," K said, gently tipping the tiny girl into Kitty's arms. "So we're here until her lungs are better suited for life outside. But she needed to meet her godparents right away."

Kitty gasped out loud. "Shut up!"

"Nope, we agreed on both of you," K said, though as entertaining as Kitty was — Peter was far more fun to watch.

"You're next, Petey," Logan said in a totally relaxed tone.

But Peter was just… stock still. His jaw was dropped, and his eyes were wide, and he hadn't moved a muscle until Kurt elbowed him in the side. "Uhhh." He closed his mouth and shifted — but didn't move any closer.

"Logan's idea," K added, since she was enjoying busting the guys out.

"Uh…..huh," Peter said slowly. He shook his head to himself, then shook it harder, huffed, and inched forward, still totally wide-eyed and very much speechless as he peered over Kitty's shoulder.

Kurt grinned impishly and elbowed Logan in the side, tipping his head to where one of his bamfs was sitting on Tyler's shoulder and recording the whole thing with Kate's cell phone. "I've never seen Peter so ... quiet," he teased.

"So when is she coming home?" Kitty asked, grinning as she played with Sadie's tiny fingers.

"It'll be a few more weeks," Heather broke in, leaning on the doorway as she watched the show.

"Ugh. That's so _long_." Kitty shook her head and went back to playing with Sadie. "Guess I'm just gonna have to take the Elf Express and visit often, huh?"

"Oh, absolutely," Kurt said, still chuckling to himself at the whole scene — especially when Kitty finally got around to letting Peter have a turn and the totally silent Spiderman had a staring contest right then and there with the little one.

"Oh good. They speak the same language," Tyler joked, smirking hard.

"What's wrong, Spidey?" K said. "Don't like her? I'm sure Kurt will take over if you don't want the job."

"Nooooo," Peter said quietly, shaking his head. "I want it."

"Because, you know … Kurt will be waiting if you chicken out."

Peter took a quick glance at Kurt and just sort of held Sadie a little tighter. "Nope."

"Glad to hear you'll stick with Sadie then," Logan said.

Peter finally broke into a huge grin at that. "Oh, yeah, for sure," he said as his mouth started to catch up to the rest of him — finally. "Yeah. We're gonna have a blast, right, Sadie? You and me?"

The tiny girl just drew in a big hitched breath and yawned, but for as small as she was, Peter could hardly feel her move.

"She is the tiniest … ohmigosh," Peter said, grinning up at K.

"I don't want to see any come smaller than her," K agreed. "She can _stay_ the featherweight champ."

"Agreed," Kurt said with a little nod.

"Sounds like you're already planning to have more," Scott teased, getting a small glare from K for the jab.

"You get a picture of them with the tiny one, Tyler?" Logan asked, wisely not stepping into the teasing about a new little one yet.

"Of course," Tyler said, grinning. "And the local reporter—" He tipped his head at the bamf. "—got video of the silent Spidey."

"I _so_ need to see Hank's voiceover on that," K chuckled.

"He'll have to watch the video a few times to stop laughing first," Kitty teased Peter.

Logan gave a little wave Tyler's way. "Alright. You guys — you're in charge of telling those that need to know."

"Who's going to take Elin and James back?" K asked as Elin curled up on Kurt's lap.

"That's me," Tyler said, though he glanced toward where Elin was curled up with Kurt and James with Scott. "Unless the kids mutiny and I go home by myself."

"I think as long as they end up at the mansion, they'll be fine," Scott said diplomatically, though he was cuddling up with James all the same.

"Right, so I'll fly then," Tyler said, unable to stop the smirk.

"I don't know," Kurt teased. "Scott will need a ride home when he's done watching over everyone."

A little bamf appeared over Tyler's shoulder and leaned forward slowly until they were touching noses, and he muttered out a growly little ' _bamf_ '.

Tyler held the little guy's gaze with a wide grin. "But I promise not to scratch the blackbird when I fly Ol' Cuddles."

"I'd be careful who you call 'cuddles'," Scott replied. "Especially since we haven't sent that picture of you with Sadie to anyone but Kurt." He turned Tyler's way with a deadly serious expression. "Kitten Whiskers."

Tyler laughed out loud. "Hey, everyone knows about me. Opposite of the way I look in that department. I'm not scared."

"Does he look nervous to you?" Logan asked with one eyebrow raised.

Tyler just laughed again. "No, he must have embraced it."

Scott smirked and turned to Tyler. "You think it's not well known? She got me first."

Tyler held up both hands. "True enough."

"Well then, if you two are headed back to the mansion, you wouldn't mind taking these two, would you?" Kurt asked primly as he scooped up little Sadie from Peter's arms. "I can find my own way, _danke_." He sat down in the chair by Logan with perfect finality, totally stealing Sadie away.

"I was planning on staying to keep watch," Scott said, watching Kurt.

"For three weeks?" Kurt asked, shaking his head. "No, no. You have your own little one to attend to."

"What about your little one?" Scott challenged.

"I can be there in an instant — can you?"

Scott stared at him for a moment before he let out a breath of a laugh. "Fine. Give her to me and take watch."

Kurt grinned triumphantly as he did just that, scooping Elin back up afterward to kiss her cheek. "You have a wonderful family, Elin. Do you know this?" he teased her.

"Mom says she looks like _me_ ," Elin informed him.

"Of course she does," Kurt said, nodding seriously. "We must have only the most beautiful girls in the family, _ja_?"

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. " _Ja._ "

…...

Translation from German:

 _Ich bin dran -_ It's my turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this ends this volume of our 714 Universe! If you enjoyed it, please keep your eyes open for 'The Initiative' which will be coming out before you know it!


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